Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) would engage all-out efforts to net at least five lakh more taxpayers next year.
The number of individual taxpayers now stands at only 11 lakh in the country with a poor tax-GDP ratio around 10 per cent.
“At least five lakh more individuals would be brought under the tax net to meet the government’s revenue target for the next fiscal (2016-17), a senior NBR official told The New Nation on Saturday, asking not to be named. Potential taxpayers have already been identified from NBR’s door-to-door survey, he added.
According to sources, the revenue collection target in the forthcoming 2016-17 budget has been estimated at Tk 2,49,752 crore.
The NBR official said that Finance Minister AMA Muhith is expected to present the next National Budget in the Parliament on June 2, targeting a jumbo size revenue collection. “To achieve the target, we have already devised a plan which includes netting new taxpayers under the tax net,” he added. He further said the NBR would also open tax offices at thana and upazila level to realize income tax from eligible taxpayers. We would also organise tax fair at Thana and Upazila level to encourage people in paying tax.
The NBR official said a huge number of people eligible to pay tax are still out of the tax net. They would be brought under the net within shortest possible time.
“Apart from the individual taxpayers, the NBR is working to find out other taxable pockets from where the government could earn revenue,” he said.
He said Bangladesh’s population is now 16 crore and only 11 lakh submit their tax returns, which is less than one per cent. “If the figure were 16 lakh, than I could count one per cent of the total population as taxpayers. So, NBR wants to engage all-out efforts to reach the number in the next fiscal”. Responding to a question, the NBR official said the revenue authority has been trying to establish a friendly relationship with the taxpayer so that they can submit their tax return without any fear.
The government in the current budget fixed Tk 176,370 crore revenue collection target for the NBR.
