Economic Reporter :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Munim on Friday said that some 70 per cent traders had paid taxes online across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“There is no reason for the businessmen to be afraid of paying VAT as taxes can now be paid online. During the Covid-19 pandemic, about 70 per cent of the traders have paid VATs virtually,” he said while addressing a pre-budget discussion on Friday.
Khulna Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised the programme at a hotel in Khulna.
NBR chairman told the programme that the method of tax collection has been simplified in an effort to encourage traders in paying taxes duly.
Besides, plans are being formulated to shoot up the number of taxpayers in order to increase revenue collection. “We are carrying out survey in this regard,” he said.
Khulna Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Kazi Aminul Haque presided over the meeting, while NBR members Masud Sadiq, Syed Golam Kibria, and Alamgir Hossain were present as special guests.
The government took VAT online project in 2014 to implement the VAT and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 through the automation of VAT administration, ending manual system and more than two-decade-old VAT laws.
The idea was to reduce the cost of businesses, improve compliance and increase revenue collection in the country, which has the lowest tax-GDP ratio in South Asia.
Initially, the NBR had planned to go with a uniform 15 per cent VAT rate on all goods and services.
However, in the face of opposition from business, the government had delayed the implementation of the new law several times since it was originally scheduled to roll out in July 2015. The law finally came into effect from July last year.
The revenue authority also backpedalled from introducing uniform VAT rates, delaying the implementation of the project, especially for two years from 2016 to 2018.
Registration and return modules were developed based on the original law and these modules had to be changed after the revision in the new VAT law.
