The government loses Tk 39.90 crore in revenue from the international trade because of a day of hartal, according to a study conducted by the National Board of Revenue recently.
In 10 days of hartal in March, the NBR lost a total of Tk 399 crore in duties from import and export businesses, the study found.The research and statistics wing finalised the study report based on the findings of its 14 field offices of customs and VAT and placed the report before NBR chairman Ghulam Hussain last week.
Officials of the revenue board said total loss due to the hartals would have been higher if losses of value-added tax and income taxes were taken into consideration.
In the first week of May, the revenue board asked its field offices to assess revenue collection loss due to hartals.
The customs and VAT offices compared the revenue earnings in 10 days with and without hartals in March and considered the gap of revenue collection as losses caused by hartals.
The offices’ average revenue collection in a normal day is Tk 149 crore while it is Tk 109.10 crore in a day of hartal, the study showed.
According to the study, Chittagong Customs House calculated that the government lost a total of Tk 178.21 crore in revenues in the 10 days of March, with an average of Tk 17.82 crore a day of hartal in the month.
Customs house of Kamalapur Inland Container Depot (ICD Dhaka) lost Tk 4.04 crore, Dhaka customs house Tk 1.48 crore, Benapole customs house Tk 2.78 crore, Mongla customs house Tk 1.45 crore, Customs bond commissionerate Chittagong Tk 2.07 crore, Dhaka (North) customs, excise and VAT commissionerate Tk 3.03 crore, Rajshahi commissionerate Tk 1.59 crore, Jessore commissionerate Tk 3.15 crore, Khulna commissionerate Tk 81 lakh, Dhaka (West) commissionerate Tk 63 lakh, Rangpur commissionerate Tk 47 lakh, Sylhet commissionerate Tk 45 lakh and Chittagong customs excise and VAT commissionerate Tk 0.10 crore in a day of hartal, the study revealed.
According to another study conducted by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce of Industry, the government loses revenue to the tune of Tk 250 crore to a single day’s hartal.
According to a recent assessment made by the Centre for Policy Dialogue published on June 3, revenue loss would be 0.7 per cent of gross domestic products if capital assets decline by one per cent because of hartal as it causes lower domestic demand, lower investment and lower trade including export and import.
‘Each day of hartal is taking heavy toll on revenue collection as trade, business, import and export activities — the major sources of revenue earnings — remain almost closed during hartals,’ a high NBR official told New Age on Thursday.
But the revenue administration carried out the study only on export and import activities as consequences of hartals fall on the sector instantly.
Exporters and importers pay duties on daily basis for their export and import activities, he said.
Calculation of the impact of shutdown on VAT and income tax earnings is quite difficult as VAT-payers pay their tax few days after their business activities while assessment of its impact on income tax takes a year, he explained.
‘But obviously revenue losses are occurred both in VAT and income tax because of hartal as business activities including retail and manufacturing remain almost closed during hartal affecting income of taxpayers,’ he said.
Sales at wholesales and retail level — hotel, restaurant, shopping mall and even small shops — remain off and other business activities go dull in hartal days, he said.
Another NBR official said the revenue board was set to fall short of revenue collection target by at least Tk 4,000-Tk 5,000 crore by the end of the current fiscal year.
Among another reasons, hartals and political unrest are playing a big role in this connection, he said.
According to the NBR provisional data, in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year 2012-2013, the deficit in revenue collection stood at Tk 5,705 crore.
The NBR has set a revenue collection target of Tk 1,12,259 crore for the fiscal year.
-With New Age input
