Tax receipts from wealthy up 30pc

Tax collection from the wealthy rose 30 percent year-on-year last fiscal year, thanks to increased monitoring by the National Board of Revenue.

In fiscal 2013-14, some Tk 131 crore was collected as wealth surcharge, according to data from the NBR.

NBR officials are expecting collections in the region of Tk 500 crore for fiscal 2014-15 following the introduction of two additional slabs of surcharge in the budget.

Under the scheme, people with net wealth of more than Tk 20 crore but lower than Tk 30 crore will have to pay 20 percent surcharge on their payable tax. Those with net wealth of more than Tk 30 crore will be subjected to 25 percent surcharge.

The previous two slabs -- 10 percent surcharge for net wealth upwards of Tk 2 crore and up to Tk 10 crore and 15 percent for net wealth above Tk 10 crore and up to Tk 20 crore -- remain unchanged.

And those who earn more than Tk 44.2 lakh a year will have to pay 30 percent tax on incomes in the current fiscal year, as opposed to 25 percent last fiscal year.

NBR officials said a number of measures have been taken in this fiscal year's budget to collect an additional Tk 4,000 crore from the rich.

The finance minister said in his budget speech that the proposal for increasing tax on high-income people was made to ensure equitable distribution of wealth and reduce economic disparity.

In the current fiscal year, a new tax slab of 30 percent has been introduced for the 'super-income group', which tax officials say may bring in around Tk 500 crore.   

The number of income taxpayers in the super-income group is around 5,000, while around eight lakh people now submit tax returns, according to NBR.