The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will recognise 360 taxpayers to encourage people pay taxes regularly.
It will award three highest taxpayers and two long-time taxpayers from each city corporation and district on September 15. A weeklong income tax fair starts September 16.
The tax fair, third of its kind, will take place in all seven divisional cities along with 11 large and old district towns. In the previous two years, the fair took place only in seven divisional cities. In Dhaka, the fair will take place at Officer’s Club.
The fair, which will remain open from 10:00am to 5:00pm everyday, will end on September 22 in divisional cities. The show in district towns will close on September 20.
“The objective of the fair is to make people aware about the need for tax compliance and to provide better services to taxpayers,” NBR Chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed said in a press briefing at Officers Club yesterday.
The tax administrator takes the move to bring more people under the tax net to boost direct tax collection.
Prior to the fair, the NBR will observe Income Tax Day on September 15 and take programmes, including opening of 50 information booths in public places in Dhaka, to create awareness among people.
Trained students of BRAC University will provide various tax-related information, such as getting tax returns, filing tax returns from the booths, termed as information clinic.
“Our aim is to provide better services to taxpayers,” said MA Quader Sarker, member-in-charge of tax administration and monitoring of NBR.
At the fair, prospective taxpayers will be able to get tax identification number and TIN certificate while present taxpayers will be able to submit tax returns.
The NBR will also assist taxpayers to file tax returns, challan and pay-orders. Sonali and Janata Bank will also open booths at the fair premises to facilitate taxpayers to pay taxes on the spot, Sarker said.
The districts where the tax fair will take place for the first time are: Mymensingh, Gazipur, Faridpur, Comilla, Noakhali, Jessore, Kushtia, Patuakhali, Bogra, Pabna and Dinajpur.
The NBR organises the event, encouraged by the response among the new taxpayers in the last two fairs where both tax collection and return submission was buoyant.
Last year, 62,272 TIN holders submitted returns at the show, up from 52,440 in the previous year.
Revenue collection also soared to Tk 414 crore in the fair last year from Tk 113 crore in the previous year. The NBR issued 10,041 TINs at the fair last year.
The NBR Member Sarker expected that 1 lakh TIN more TINs will be issued in the upcoming fair.
Currently, more than 36 lakh of the 15 crore population hold TINs and less than a half of them — nearly 14 lakh submit tax returns last year, he said.
However, the number of taxpayers is below 1 percent of the population of Bangladesh.
“The rate of tax compliance is regrettable,” said NBR Chairman Ahmed, “Our aim is not to create panic to collect tax. But the amount we are collecting is inadequate. That’s why we are going to change the present tax law, Income Tax Ordinance 1984.
He said the NBR has drafted a Direct Tax Law 2012 in this regard. The tax authority will make the draft law available on its website soon, he said.
Over the past five years, the NBR recorded more than 20 percent growth on average in income tax receipts, particularly because of steady growth of the economy and rising incomes.
Income tax collection rose 23 percent to Tk 28,261crore last fiscal year from Tk 23,119 crore a year ago. The total receipts increased 19 percent to Tk 94,447 crore last fiscal year.
This year, the tax collector aims to log Tk 112,259 crore. Of the amount, the target for income tax was Tk 35,300 crore.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
