The seven-day tax fair 2015 kicked off in the capital along with other divisional cities on Wednesday, aiming to provide one-stop hassle-free tax-related services to taxpayers.The event will take place for seven days in all divisional cities, while it will be for four days in districts. In Dhaka, the fair is taking place at Officers’ Club on Bailey Road. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) in 2010 first organised the fair in Dhaka and Chittagong to provide one-stop services to taxpayers. The NBR for the first time is holding its annual tax fair in 86 upazilas across the country apart from other places to attract eligible taxpayers to regularise their tax payment.The fair will take place in 29 upazilas for two days and 57 upazilas for one day between September 16 and September 22. Last year, the tax fair was held at divisional headquarters for seven days, 54 districts for four days and three hill districts for two days. The amount of tax that collected from the tax fair across the country last year was Tk 1675,30,73,451 and services were provided to 649,185 taxpayers. Some 15,907 people took new e-TIN while 10,838 TIN holders took the e-TIN. Currently, the enlisted number of taxpayers in the country is around 1.8 million. In the last fiscal (2014-15) year, some 1.07 million taxpayers submitted their income tax returns, down from the 2013-14 fiscal which was 1.16 million. At the fair, the taxpayers will be able to submit their tax returns for 2015-16 and pay taxes.The NBR will have booths to help taxpayers register electronically generated TINs or re-register for e-TINs to replace their old TINs. There is dedicated booths for the freedom fighters, physically challenged, women and elderly, so that they can easily fulfill their tax related formalities. For the first time, there are separate booths to provide services to people on value added taxes, customs and department of national savings.
