Staff Reporter :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has decided not to hold annual tax fair this year considering the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic situation.
The decision was taken in a meeting held in the conference room of the revenue board on Thursday. The NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem presided over the meeting while all the Tax Members and the Commissioners were present in the meeting.
Several sources, who participated in the meeting, confirmed it.
They said the annual tax fair will not be held this year to avoid the usual mass gatherings and curb the risk of the spread of coronavirus.
However, like the previous year, the respective tax zones will have separate booths on their building premises with a view to collecting returns in a congenial atmosphere, the officials said.
The revenue board will also hold a seminar in the conference room of the board on November 30 and will distribute tax cards at a suitable place in the capital by the end of November, they added. Besides, NBR is going to inaugurate online return submission software at the end of this month so that the taxpayers can file their returns from their homes, they said.
The NBR officials also expected that the number of return submission will be increased this year as the virus infection rate is slowing down.
“We have decided not to hold the tax fair this year considering the Covid-19 situation,” a Commissioner (Tax), who was present in the meeting, told The New Nation over phone on Thursday.
Taxpayers will have to go to their respective tax zones and file returns and NBR officials will help them to file the returns there, he added.
The tax regions will create an atmosphere so that the taxpayers get a fair environment to submit their returns, the commissioner said.
The taxpayers will be able to complete their return filing activities properly without facing any harassment, he added.
However, the bank will not have booth arrangements and the taxpayers can only submit returns, the NBR officials said.
The income tax fair usually takes place in November every year to raise awareness and encourage taxpayers to comply with rules.
The NBR has been organising fairs every year since 2010 and it has become very popular among the general taxpayers.
In South Asia, only in Bangladesh, such tax fairs are organized for the taxpayers. Nearly 6.55 lakh taxpayers submitted their annual returns in the tax fair in 2019.
