NBR marks 320 top taxpayers from districts for awards

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has identified 320 top taxpayers from 64 districts to give them special status, with every taxpayer to be recognised with a tax payment certificate from this year.
NBR Chairman Muhammad Abdul Mazid spoke about the progress in awarding the top taxpayers across the country, at a function here yesterday, apparently to encourage potential taxpayers.
Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed is scheduled to distribute the awards among the top taxpayers -- five from each district (three for highest amount of tax payment and two for longest period of tax payment) -- at a function at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the city on September 15.
The function will be organised marking the Taxpayers Day, said the NBR chairman, making the disclosure at the request of Bishwa Shahitya Kendro founder Prof Abdullah Abu Sayeed, who also addressed the function at the Srinagar Upazila auditorium.
Tax Zone-7 organised the function to distribute taxpayer identification numbers and “Self-Motivated Taxpayer” cards among 514 new taxpayers they identified in the upazila.
This was a part of the NBR campaign since February 14 this year in an effort to net new taxpayers so the country could become self-sufficient to meet its development expenditure without foreign aid.
The NBR chairman said the top five taxpayers from each district would get special status in any government programmes in their respective districts, while they would be entitled to other government facilities.
Mazid said the self-motivated new taxpayers would also be entitled to get privilege showing their cards, while the NBR officials would not ask them any question for next three years on whatever tax they would pay on the basis of self-assessment.
Mazid, however, said few people would come under investigation for special reasons like -- if new taxpayers were interested to contest any election.
In an instant response to Prof Abu Sayeed's request for recognition and motivation of the existing taxpayers, he said they would introduce issuing tax payment certificates to every single taxpayer from this year in recognition of their contribution to the economy.
An NBR official, however, said that the revenue authority issues tax certificates to the taxpayers, but on requisition only. The certificate is necessary for various purposes -- from opening a trade licence to qualify for any election, he said.
Under the campaign, the NBR chairman said the taxpayers would not have to go to the tax officials, instead the taxmen would go to the taxpayers.
The tax would be collected in different district and Upazila Headquarters on certain dates to be announced earlier, he added. He also assured that the taxpayers would not face any hassle to pay their tax in a simplified format.
The NBR chairman urged the people with taxable income to pay tax being self-motivated to legalise their income. “Otherwise, you (people) will be questioned about the source of income wherever you'll be willing to spend the undisclosed income."