Economic Reporter :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) launched installation of Electronic Fiscal Device (EFD) on Tuesday in order to ease collection of value-added tax (VAT).
NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem inaugurated the function at Rajswa Bhaban in Segunbagicha in the capital.
It was planned to inaugurate the EFD installation in the last week of March 2020 to commemorate the Mujib Borsho. All the formalities were completed, but the installation was again delayed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
The NBR has taken an initiative to procure and install 10,000 EFDs in 13 types of business entities from next year in a move to check VAT evasion and enhance collection. The new EFD will replace the electronic cash register (ECR) and the point of sale (POS).
“Five lakh machines will be installed throughout the country in phases later on,” the NBR official said.
The 13 types of businesses include hotels, restaurants, fast food shop, confectionaries, jeweller’s, beauty salons, furniture shop, RMG shop or boutique shop, electronics shop, community center, all business entities in posh shopping mall, departmental stores, general shop or super shop, wholesalers and large retail stores.
The revenue board has decided to import two lakh EFDs along with electronic fiscal device management systems (EFDMS) to track online transactions and ensure VAT collection from the sectors.
The VAT Online Project, the implementing agency of the automated VAT system, has already issued work order for purchasing one lakh EFDs at a cost of Tk 317 crore.
The first shipment of 10,000 EFDs was scheduled to arrive by November, officials said.
The other machines would gradually be installed at eligible shops located at luxury shopping malls across the country and Old Town of Dhaka, they said.
The VOP initially plans to provide 10,000 EFDs free of cost to traders.
Officials, however, said that the tax authority was yet to take any final decision in this regard.
Installation of the each EFD would cost around Tk 22,000.
In August 2018, the NBR made the use of EFD or Point of Sales (POS) software, scrapping the traditional electronic cash register machines (ECR), mandatory for shops and service providers from November 1 that year.
According to the plan, all EFDs and POS machines will be connected online with the EFDMS.
The businesses will be able to use their own POS software after taking approval of the NBR. The POS software must have sales data controller for preserving sales records and maintaining connection with the EFDMS of the NBR.
Every transaction to be made through the device will be transferred to the EFDMS for authorisation codes and traders will be able to complete the transactions only upon receiving the code from the system.
VAT officials will be able to track the sales transactions of the shops connected with the EFDMS through the device.
