Tax receipts may hit record at NBR fair

The National Board of Revenue is likely to hit a record in tax collection from its weeklong tax fair.

Since the beginning of the fair on September 16, the tax administrator logged Tk 1,096 crore in tax, which is close to the last year's total collection of Tk 1,117 crore, NBR said in a statement.

The fair, which will remain open for all from 10am to 5pm, will end on Monday in seven divisional cities, including Dhaka.

"It is really encouraging to see so many people coming to the fair," said Md Bashir Uddin Ahmed, member of tax administration of NBR.

He expected the tax receipts to cross Tk 1,500 crore this year from the event.

"But tax collection is not our target. Our target is to provide more people with tax-related services. We hope the number of service recipients will increase this year compared with last year."

NBR provided assistance to 4.49 lakh people at the fair so far this year and extended such services to 5.10 lakh people in 2013.

Some 90,739 returns were submitted until Saturday, according to NBR, which has been organising the fair since 2010 to motivate people to pay taxes by extending tax-related assistance to existing and potential taxpayers.

The fair took place for four days in 57 districts in the week, giving taxpayers scope to get taxpayer identification numbers (TINs) online and submit tax returns on the spot.

At the fair, 10,795 persons obtained new TINs online while 7,742 re-registered online.