The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has fallen short of its revenue collection target for the 12th consecutive year, with experts opining that the existing framework for tax collection is inadequate.
Bangladesh’s revenue collection is lower than its potential, hovering below the level of Nepal and India, which have similar economic development, according to the finance ministry.
In Bangladesh, the tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is not growing. Rather, the ratio is declining. Today, the country has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in the world.
The pace of revenue collections quickened in January, driven by increased receipts from income tax as the deadline for filing personal income and wealth statements for the current fiscal year ended last month.
The revenue collection will be very challenging if the political unrest is sustained in the coming months of this year, National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem said today.
Revenue collection in Bangladesh grew 14.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of the current fiscal year although the pace was slower owing to a decline in imports, official figures showed yesterday.
The government’s dependence on borrowing to finance national budgets has increased over the past decade as revenue collection has failed to keep pace with the ballooning public expenditure.
Tax collection by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) shot up in May, powered by buoyancy in value added tax (VAT) collection from domestic economic activities and increased income tax receipts, according to a provisional estimate.
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Bank accounts with upwards of Tk 1 crore in balance are set to face a higher excise duty next fiscal year as the government looks to collect more taxes from the relatively well-off to get close to the lofty revenue collection target.
Wishy-washy -- is what best describes the government’s stance on scaling up its narrow revenue base, which is posing to become the Achilles’ heel to Bangladesh’s growth aspirations.
It is hardly surprising that a premier think tank in the country has once again calculated that the government in all probability will miss its tax collection target.