NBR posts 18pc revenue growth
Star Business Report
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has recorded 18 percent growth in revenue earnings in the July-December period of the current fiscal year, compared to the same period a year ago.
The tax administration collected Tk 26,437.71 crore against the Tk 26,113.91 crore target for the July-December period.
Revenue from import grew 9.44 percent, while value added tax (VAT) and income tax posted 26.31 percent and 22.68 percent growth.
But other taxes, including travel tax, have recorded 8.38 percent negative growth, according to statistics disclosed by NBR at a press conference in Dhaka yesterday.
A total of 42,522 new taxpayers have been included in the tax net in the last six months. The board had earlier launched a programme to net four lakh new taxpayers by June.
Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed, chairman of NBR, blamed complicated laws and staff shortage for the poor tax collection system.
“We are taking a series of measures to strengthen revenue collections. We are revising the rates of VAT and customs duty and taking motivational steps to increase revenue.”
The NBR will place a draft of modernised VAT and customs rules at a public seminar on February 11 and seek recommendations from stakeholders, including taxpayers and relevant government agencies.
“Simultaneously, we are taking measures to boost our Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) to spot tax evasion cases, which will ultimately help increase revenue collections,” he added.
Ahmed said thousands of pending cases are hindering revenue growth. More than 18,000 tax evasion cases that involve nearly Tk 8,000 crore in revenue are now pending with the High Court.
The NBR chief said two benches have already been formed at the High Court Division to try bank-related tax evasion cases.
However, two dedicated benches will be set up in a month or two to deal with NBR-related cases, he said.
Jahanara Siddiqui, member (customs) of NBR, was also present at the conference.
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