Staff Reporter :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is working tirelessly to uproot the legal loopholes in order to stop revenue evasion.
“People’s tendency is to evade revenue by using different loopholes of law. We are trying to mend the cracks, including reformation of laws to stop the evasion,” said NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem.
The NBR Chairman was speaking at a press conference in its conference room on the occasionof VAT Day on Thursday.
Regarding resolution of disputes, Muneem further said, “Taxpayers go to courts for delay payment. We are working to stop it.”
“Size of the development budget is increasing day by day and the country’s economy is getting bigger. So, more money is needed to meet the increased budget and, in this case, VAT is in the first place among the internal sectors as over 38 per cent of the revenue comes from it,” he said.
He said the field-level officers and employees of the VAT department of the NBR have been working tirelessly to achieve the revenue target.
“Filing of online income tax and VAT returns increased this year due to automation. Now, we are working for installation of well accepted EFD machines at the business entities,” the NBR chairman said.
With the theme “Pay VAT online, take part in nation building,” NBR will observe the VAT Day and VAT Week in the capital and other divisional cities, he added.
The revenue board has chalked out various programmes to hold the National VAT Day on December 10 and the National VAT Week from December 10-15.
However, due to the Covid situation, several programmes including the procession on VAT Day were cancelled this time.
Contrarily, NBR will organise seminars in VAT offices and special services will also be rendered to the taxpayers in all VAT offices.
He said, special emphasis is being laid on raising VAT awareness among the taxpayers during this year’s VAT Day and VAT Week.
Customers will be notified via SMS from 10 to 15 December through all mobile companies in the country as part of the important VAT related promotional activities.
Like the previous years, the highest taxpayers and organisations would be given honour in the production, services and business sectors.
On the VAT Day on 10 December, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will be present at the award giving ceremony at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB).
BSS adds: National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem yesterday said that the revenue collection during the July-November period of the current fiscal year (FY22) has increased by 15 percent to Taka 1.26 trillion compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
“The revenue collection will increase further once the reform measures taken by the NBR in the recent times come into effect,” he told a press conference marking the National VAT Day (Friday) and VAT Week at the NBR Bhaban in the city’s Segunbagicha area.
With the slogan “Pay VAT online, participate in nation building,” the NBR is going to celebrate the day tomorrow aiming to encourage people to pay tax, create awareness and enhance the NBR staffs’ service standard.
Muneem said pile of lawsuits along with people’s mindset to evade taxes is one of the key challenges to the country’s revenue collection.
“Many tax payers opt to take shelter with the courts ignoring us (NBR) even though they are aware of their respective taxables,” he added.
Muneem also said the NBR is working to develop a mechanism to assess the taxables so that it is duly addressed.
He, however, said wrong assessment of the taxable earnings committed by the taxpayers is one of the reasons for filing cases.
The NBR Chairman said currently around 60 per cent VAT returns are submitted online.
“There is a huge potential for VAT collection at the retail and wholesale levels, but actual realization is very limited,” he opined.
He said the NBR has come up with a new formula for proper VAT collection from this sector, adding that the strategy will be unveiled soon.
“We hope that the celebration of VAT Week and VAT Day will raise awareness among mass people and they will be motivated to collect invoices,” he said.
