The government has set a revenue collection target of Tk 1,49,000 crore for National Board of Revenue for the next fiscal year of 2014-15, the NBR chairman Ghulam Hussain said on Wednesday. At a pre-budget discussion with export-oriented sectors without bond facility, automobiles and transport sectors (land, waterway and airways), he said that the target was set with 22 per cent growth rate compared with that of the current fiscal year.
In FY 2013-14, the government originally targeted to collect Tk 1,36,900 crore which was later downsized to Tk 1,25,000 crore amid failure in achieving revenue collection target in the first three quarters of the fiscal year.
The NBR attributed political unrest and slowdown in economic activities in last few months of last year to the shortfall in revenue collection.
At the meeting, NBR chairman sought a framework from the business community to achieve the target for the next fiscal year.
Ghulam said that most of the business bodies and associations participated in the pre-budget consultations with the NBR only sought tax benefits for their respective sectors but they did not advise the NBR regarding fulfilling the huge revenue collection target.
‘Advise us on how to achieve the target and from which sector we can earn additional revenue,’ he requested the participants.
Just expanding the income tax net does not yield any effective results as the NBR may get only Tk 1 crore by bringing 1,000 new income taxpayers under tax net from Upazila level, he said, adding that large businesses would always be big revenue earning sectors along with expansion of the tax net.
The NBR chairman earlier said that even after reduction of the target, the revenue collection fell short by Tk 4,000 in the July-February of the fiscal year.
The revenue board, however, has yet to publish the revenue collection data for July-February period.
In July-January period, the NBR managed to collect Tk 59,545 crore with 9.96 per cent growth rate compared with the same time of last year.
At the meeting, Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association demanded for increasing depreciation facility up to 55 per cent from the existing 45 per cent for reconditioned cars along with reducing the supplementary duty.
They also sought for reduction the number of CC (cylinder capacity) slabs to 5 from the existing 6 to facilitate consumers in buying more upgraded used cars.
BARVIDA also demanded the facility of importing hybrid used cars at a reduced import duty that new hybrid car importers enjoy.
Bangladesh Automobile Assemblers and Manufacturers Association demanded that the NBR should reduce duty to 10 per cent and exempt value-added tax on import of complete knock
down pick-up for assembling purpose.
BAAMA president Motiur Rahman, also managing directors of Uttara Motors, wanted tax benefits like manufacturers in assembling trucks in the country to enable them in sourcing around 30 per cent of parts of trucks from local market.
Bangladesh Road Transport Association secretary general Khandaker Enayet Ullah said the government in 2010 declared the sector as service industry but the sector was not getting any duty and tax facility as an industry.
He sought duty reduction in import of spare parts, tyres, tubes for bus and trucks.
-With New Age input
