Al Amin :
The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) on Tuesday launched drives to expand the tax net without enhancing the tax rate with a view to increasing services for the residents and to reaching the development activities to the doorsteps of the people by achieving financial self-reliance.
Implementing the plan, a month-long stringent campaign will be conducted in all the wards under DNCC Zone-2 (Mirpur) and Zone-5 (Karwan Bazar) started from Tuesday.
The drive was conducted at Ward No 33 of the city corporation on the first day of the month-long stringent campaign.
“Dhaka North City Corporation has decided to raid every house with the target of collecting Tk 500 crore including holding tax of Tk 400 crore,” said Atiqul Islam, Mayor of the DNCC, after inaugurating the drive at Mohammadpur area in the city.
He further said, “Most of the house owners denied to pay holding tax but we will collect Tk400 crore from the holding tax and Tk100 crore from the licenses.”
During the drive on the first day, branches of three banks, several homeowners and institutions were fined amounting to Tk 5.5 lakh.
The DNCC also shut down three branches of Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank and UCB Bank as they did not take trade license from the city corporation, although they took permission from the central bank to open the branches. The branches were also fined for hanging billboards illegally.
Besides, the mobile court fined a healthy amount of money for the showrooms of the Pertex and Shwapno located in the area.
Official sources said the DNCC only have a list of 0.25-million holding tax payers. But it is assumed that there are more than double holdings under the corporation which are out of the tax net.
Last year, the DNCC had set a target of earning Tk 4.40 billion holding tax. Finally, it ended up in collecting Tk 3.0 billion only.
That’s why, the tax collection target has been reduced this fiscal year, setting it at Tk 4.0 billion.
DNCC Chief Revenue Officer Abdul Hamid Mia said they have decided to collect data on delinquent holdings and bring them under tax net.
“We won’t raise the holding tax rate. We will go door to door to assess houses, establishments, newly-built houses, flats and other installations,” said Hamid.
“We will identify offices and business centres running without trade licence, and bring the expired trade licence under a renewal process,” he added.
Last year, the DNCC could not achieve its revenue target with an outstanding revenue of Tk 1.40 billion. There is a significant amount of dues because of the cases pending with the court.
If the DNCC collects holding tax and advertisement tax properly, Hamid said, it can be a self-dependent organisation.
Multiple public and private organisations, and individual taxpayers owe the DNCC a substantial amount of outstanding holding tax.
The DNCC has an outstanding tax of Tk 400 million to public organisations and Tk 250 million to the United Hospital.
Most ministries, Bashundhara Group, Jamuna Group, Monipur School, Uttara School, Padma Printers, Rahim Steel, BGMEA, National Housing Authority and Rajuk, to name but a few, are yet to pay tax.
Hamid said the crackdown aims to identify the holdings that remain outside tax net.
The DNCC plans to expand the tax net by gaining financial self-sufficiency to deliver services door to door and development benefit to citizens without raising the present tax rate.
DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam held a meeting on the ‘strategic action plan to make combing operation successful’ at Nagar Bhaban on Thursday.
He said the DNCC must be self-reliant financially through boosting its revenue collection.
Through the drive, the DNCC mayor hoped, Councillors’ involvement will increase, transparency and accountability of revenue department be ensured and citizens to be motivated to pay municipality tax.
