UNB, Dhaka :Worried at the poor turnout of income tax returns even after extending the deadline twice for individual taxpayers, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has decided to be harsh on the errant Tax Identification Number (TIN) holders.The last date for the income tax return submission was November 30 last year. The number of income tax return was 10,26,913 out of 1.8 million TIN holders till the last date.”Yes, we hoped to get better revenue collection compared to the previous year, but the amount of income tax was lower than the last fiscal,” an income tax commissioner preferring anonymity told UNB.The amount of revenue collection from the 10,26,913 taxpayers was Tk 1,300 crore. The amount was Tk 1,600 crore in the previous fiscal from 8,30,000 income tax return files.”We were expecting almost double revenue from this year as the number of income tax returns increased significantly,” the NBR official said.He said that, the NBR is apprehending tax evasion and asked all tax zones to submit their report after reviewing the overall situation of their respective tax zones. “NBR recently sent letters to all tax zones in this regard,” he added.The letter asked the income tax zones to identify the reasons for not increasing the amount of revenue collection after reviewing 110 income tax return files.NBR hoped that at least 1.3 million would submit their income tax return. Of the total number 300,000 will be the new TIN taker. Some 1,95,000 taxpayers have extended their return submission date by applying to their respective tax zones individually.NBR in its letter asked the tax zones to closely monitor the individual taxpayers who have applied to extend their time.On the other hand, it also asked to monitor the taxpayers who have taken the e-TIN recently whether they submit their return or not.It asked the zone offices to take actions as per law against the e-TIN takers who did not submit their income tax return in due time.According to the Income Tax Ordinance the punishment for not submitting income tax return is Tk 1000 for one time and Tk 50 for each delayed day.NBR is thinking to be more stern against the errant taxpayers as it would be easier for them to catch the taxpayers as they have taken e-TIN that requires the National Identification Number.The budget for the current fiscal set an overall revenue collection target of Tk 1,82,954 crore. Of the target, the share of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is estimated at Tk 1,49,720 crore, up Tk 24,720 crore from the last fiscal’s.In terms of composition of revenue, income tax will be the major source of income for the current fiscal with the target set at Tk 57,500 crore.
