NBR collects record revenue in July-October
The government will reduce tax incentives for different sectors to help increase tax collection, said National Board of Revenue (NBR) officials yesterday.
Also, in the new income tax law, truncated tax will be withdrawn in case of VAT at retailer level, they said.
The NBR officials said revenue collections beat the target by Tk 1,799 crore to hit a record at Tk 21,236 crore in the first four months of the current fiscal year.
At a press conference, NBR Chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed said the draft tax law will be made public through websites in January, and the law would be finalised after taking opinions of stakeholders.
The NBR achieved 24.74 percent revenue growth in the first four months of the current fiscal year. The chairman said, if the trend continues, NBR will be able to exceed the revenue collection target this year.
According to an NBR analysis, the higher revenue came due to political stability in the country, a rise in production and demand, and a hike in import costs.
About the new income tax law, NBR member Aminur Rahman said, through the new law they will introduce electronic technology across the country so the taxpayers get quicker services. He said the tax net would be expanded further.
The NBR member said, at present a huge tax incentive is given to different business groups. He said they think it is not necessary any more, and facilities like tax holiday will be made short.
NBR Member Farid Ahmed said, though VAT (value added tax) was introduced in 1991, there are still many distortions in the country’s VAT system, which was squeezed at retail level through various steps including advance tax and tariff value.
Ahmed said it was contrary to the main spirit of the VAT system in collecting revenue. In the new VAT law attempts will be made to correct it, he said.
At the press conference detailed data on the collection of revenue in different sectors was presented. It showed that during the July-October period this year, the NBR collected a total of Tk 21,236 crore as revenue, which was Tk 16,889 crore during the same period last year.
The target for revenue collection in the four months was Tk 19,437 crore. The revenue collection exceeded the target by 9 percent.
In the four months, revenue collection increased by 19.12 percent at import and export levels, and VAT collection by 31.38 percent at local level, while income tax by 29.19 percent.
The revenue collection as export duty went up by about Tk 13 crore for the first time during the period.
The NBR officials said duty has been imposed on the export of tobacco and tobacco products, which contributed to the higher revenue collection from the export sector.
For the current fiscal year, the government took a number of steps which include bringing the stockmarket under the tax net and changes in the VAT system. These helped the revenue collection exceed the target, he said.
Asked if any political instability in the coming months may hamper revenue income, the NBR chief replied in the negative. “Amid the global financial crisis revenue collection was good and in the current fiscal year also the collection will be good.”
