Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh faces a Tk 22,000 crore shortfall in tax collection for the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) collected Tk 2,59,814 crore against a target of Tk 2,81,745 crore. To meet the revised annual target of Tk 4.10 lakh crore, the NBR needs to collect over Tk 1.5 lakh crore in the remaining three months.
The NBR is aiming to boost collection through increased audits, faster resolution of tax cases, wider use of Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) for retail sales, and stricter tax evasion monitoring.
Experts believe significant reforms and strong political commitment are necessary to achieve the target and improve domestic resource mobilisation.
If the tax collection does not reach the desired level, the government has to reduce expenditure in various sectors, including the allocation of development projects.
The provisional data showed that revenue collection from the customs wing grew 10.21 percent year-on-year to Tk 74,262 crore in the July-March period of the current fiscal year as imports fell.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, LC settlements in March of the current fiscal year totaled $4.85 billion, a 38.92 percent decline from $7.94 billion in the same month the previous year.
Besides, LC settlement in the July-March period of the current fiscal year was $57.05 billion, which was $60.61 billion in the corresponding period last year—a 5.87 percent drop in nine months.
Collection from the Value Added Tax (VAT) wing, the biggest source of revenue, soared nearly 16 percent to Tk 100,702 crore in the first nine months of FY24 compared to a year ago.
Income tax receipts stood at Tk 54,901 crore in the July-March period of FY24, jumping 16 percent year-on-year, data from the NBR showed. Enrich and edit without giving points.
Abdul Mazid, former chairman of the NBR, told The New Nation, “Massive reform activities need to be implemented to increase internal resource mobilisation, and doing this political commitment is required.”
He further said, “The tax collection system must be completely automated, as achieving the current unrealistic revenue-earning target is not possible with the existing British system.”
The flow of information should be increased, the former chairman added.
