Special Correspondent :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is losing billions of taka per year due to rampant VAT avoidance, fraud and evasion by business establishments.
These business firms are indulging in various unfair means to evade VAT, leading huge revenue erosion to the state coffer, officials said.
There are about 5,70,000 registered business firms in the country. Of the total, only 40,000 are paying VAT, according to NBR’s VAT intelligence wing report.
The Value Added Tax or VAT is a consumption tax assessed on the value added to goods and services.
“VAT evasion by business firms is running rampant leading to huge revenue losses for the NBR per year. The exact revenue loss is yet to be ascertained, but it would be billions of taka,” a senior NBR official told The New Nation on Sunday.
Referring to their report, he said, “We have found that 93 per cent of the registered business firms are evading VAT although they are eligible to pay it.
Chain super shops, first food outlets and leading consumer goods producers and large business houses have been identified as the biggest VAT evaders.
The NBR official said, the NBR has asked the retail shops, first food outlets, hotels, beauty parlors. Community centers are also spotted as VAT evading business establishments which are yet to maintain the Electronic Cash Register (ECR).
“We earlier asked them to maintain the ECR so that they can be prevented from VAT evasion. But they are not maintaining the ECR only to avoid the VAT,” he added.
The NBR official said, VAT evasion and avoidance have become a major issue for the revenue board and it is trying hard to deal with the issue aiming to bring the errant businesses under the VAT net.
“We would also launch crackdown on the businesses which are yet to maintain the ECR. If we can bring the VAT evading business firms under the due diligence practice, we can receive a big amount of revenue from them,” he said.
“Businesses are evading Tax and VAT by exploiting the loopholes within tax law and poor enforcement and monitoring by the Revenue Administration,” Dr MA Mazid, former NBR Chairman told The New Nation on Sunday.
He said VAT evasion across the board is affecting the overall contribution of revenue income from the potential revenue sector provoking a clear distortion in NBR’s revenue growth and economic development.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is losing billions of taka per year due to rampant VAT avoidance, fraud and evasion by business establishments.
These business firms are indulging in various unfair means to evade VAT, leading huge revenue erosion to the state coffer, officials said.
There are about 5,70,000 registered business firms in the country. Of the total, only 40,000 are paying VAT, according to NBR’s VAT intelligence wing report.
The Value Added Tax or VAT is a consumption tax assessed on the value added to goods and services.
“VAT evasion by business firms is running rampant leading to huge revenue losses for the NBR per year. The exact revenue loss is yet to be ascertained, but it would be billions of taka,” a senior NBR official told The New Nation on Sunday.
Referring to their report, he said, “We have found that 93 per cent of the registered business firms are evading VAT although they are eligible to pay it.
Chain super shops, first food outlets and leading consumer goods producers and large business houses have been identified as the biggest VAT evaders.
The NBR official said, the NBR has asked the retail shops, first food outlets, hotels, beauty parlors. Community centers are also spotted as VAT evading business establishments which are yet to maintain the Electronic Cash Register (ECR).
“We earlier asked them to maintain the ECR so that they can be prevented from VAT evasion. But they are not maintaining the ECR only to avoid the VAT,” he added.
The NBR official said, VAT evasion and avoidance have become a major issue for the revenue board and it is trying hard to deal with the issue aiming to bring the errant businesses under the VAT net.
“We would also launch crackdown on the businesses which are yet to maintain the ECR. If we can bring the VAT evading business firms under the due diligence practice, we can receive a big amount of revenue from them,” he said.
“Businesses are evading Tax and VAT by exploiting the loopholes within tax law and poor enforcement and monitoring by the Revenue Administration,” Dr MA Mazid, former NBR Chairman told The New Nation on Sunday.
He said VAT evasion across the board is affecting the overall contribution of revenue income from the potential revenue sector provoking a clear distortion in NBR’s revenue growth and economic development.
