Al Amin : The National Board of Revenue (NBR) witnessed a big revenue shortfall in two back-to-back months of the current fiscal year amid an unprecedented downturn of the country’s economy, caused by Covid-19 pandemic.
The shock to revenue from the pandemic will compel the government to either borrow more or curtail public expenditure and the effect of which will eventually be felt by citizens.
Revenue collection deficit from the target widened further in August, the second month of the current fiscal year, blaming a high target, tax exemption for a number of goods and a slowdown in business activities in the country for the deficit
The revenue collection witnessed a deficit of Tk 12311.93 crore against the target of Tk 40947.49 crore in the last two months of the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) collected Tk 28635.56 crore with negative growth 4.91 percent.
Revenue collection from value-added tax (VAT), the biggest source of revenue for the state coffer, missed the target by Tk 5576.78 crore against the target of Tk 15464.76 crore. The NBR collected Tk 9887.98 crore from the source.
Earning from the customs duty was Tk 9945.04 crore against the target of Tk 15462.60 crore and the gap between target and collection was Tk 5517.56 crore on the back of a crash in imports.
Receipt from income and travel tax was Tk 8802.54 crore against the target Tk 10020.13 crore and the deficit between the collection and target was Tk 1217.59 crore.Officials said that lack of logistic supports, imposing restriction on using of government transport and shortage of manpower are the another reasons behind the shortfall.
Tax Deduction at Sources (TDS) is severely hampered due to the shortage of sufficient transport facilities, they added.
About the allegation of restriction on imposing restriction on using of government transport, an official wishing to disclose his name said NBR is trying to bring discipline by imposing the restriction as massive irregularities were seen here.
Economists, however, said that along with the Covid-19 pandemic, the weakness of the system of revenue collection was also responsible for the revenue shortfall.
Asim Kumar Roy, former member of the NBR, told The New Nation, “The deficit is absolutely natural due to the slowed economy caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, but the NBR should take some liberal initiatives like whitening black money to increase revenue collection in the coming days.”
“NBR must ensure all kind of logistic supports including transport facilities and timely promotion for the officers, who are involved with the revenue collection. Besides, incentives should be announced for them for further inspiration,” he opined.
Prof Dr Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said the revenue collection deficit is reflected that the country’s economy is yet to be activated fully.
The NBR has received less revenue than the target due to low domestic production and demand and it may continue until the uncertainty of the ongoing pandemic removes, he added.
“The economic downturn caused by the pandemic was the main but not the only reason,” said Zahid Hussain, a former lead economist of the World Bank office in Dhaka.
“A low revenue collection has posed negative impacts on the implementation of the national budget. The government has already borrowed more than its target from the banking sector to implement the Annual Development Programme (ADP),” he added.
The shock to revenue from the pandemic will compel the government to either borrow more or curtail public expenditure and the effect of which will eventually be felt by citizens.
Revenue collection deficit from the target widened further in August, the second month of the current fiscal year, blaming a high target, tax exemption for a number of goods and a slowdown in business activities in the country for the deficit
The revenue collection witnessed a deficit of Tk 12311.93 crore against the target of Tk 40947.49 crore in the last two months of the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) collected Tk 28635.56 crore with negative growth 4.91 percent.
Revenue collection from value-added tax (VAT), the biggest source of revenue for the state coffer, missed the target by Tk 5576.78 crore against the target of Tk 15464.76 crore. The NBR collected Tk 9887.98 crore from the source.
Earning from the customs duty was Tk 9945.04 crore against the target of Tk 15462.60 crore and the gap between target and collection was Tk 5517.56 crore on the back of a crash in imports.
Receipt from income and travel tax was Tk 8802.54 crore against the target Tk 10020.13 crore and the deficit between the collection and target was Tk 1217.59 crore.Officials said that lack of logistic supports, imposing restriction on using of government transport and shortage of manpower are the another reasons behind the shortfall.
Tax Deduction at Sources (TDS) is severely hampered due to the shortage of sufficient transport facilities, they added.
About the allegation of restriction on imposing restriction on using of government transport, an official wishing to disclose his name said NBR is trying to bring discipline by imposing the restriction as massive irregularities were seen here.
Economists, however, said that along with the Covid-19 pandemic, the weakness of the system of revenue collection was also responsible for the revenue shortfall.
Asim Kumar Roy, former member of the NBR, told The New Nation, “The deficit is absolutely natural due to the slowed economy caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, but the NBR should take some liberal initiatives like whitening black money to increase revenue collection in the coming days.”
“NBR must ensure all kind of logistic supports including transport facilities and timely promotion for the officers, who are involved with the revenue collection. Besides, incentives should be announced for them for further inspiration,” he opined.
Prof Dr Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said the revenue collection deficit is reflected that the country’s economy is yet to be activated fully.
The NBR has received less revenue than the target due to low domestic production and demand and it may continue until the uncertainty of the ongoing pandemic removes, he added.
“The economic downturn caused by the pandemic was the main but not the only reason,” said Zahid Hussain, a former lead economist of the World Bank office in Dhaka.
“A low revenue collection has posed negative impacts on the implementation of the national budget. The government has already borrowed more than its target from the banking sector to implement the Annual Development Programme (ADP),” he added.
