Earnings by the tax administrator grew by 19.24 percent in the first 10 months of current fiscal year compared to the same period last year, thanks to a strong drive for tax mobilisation from domestic sources.

However, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has to collect more than Tk 21,000 crore in the remaining two months to meet the revised target for the entire fiscal year.

An NBR official said they are upbeat about earning more than the required amount in the next two months from the tax dodgers apart from the normal collection from taxpayers.

Being encouraged by the strong performance this year, the government plans to set a 22 percent higher target next year than the current fiscal year's original target, he said.According to NBR statistics, revenue earnings in the July-April period were Tk 71,065 crore, up from the target of Tk 69,787 crore.

The NBR official said they had a collection target of Tk 91,870 crore for the entire year. However, in the revised target the figure is going to be set at Tk 92,370 crore.

The current year's successes may encourage the NBR to set the next year's target at Tk 112,259 crore, 22.19 percent more than this fiscal year's original target.

In the first 10 months this year, growth in income tax was 27.76 percent and VAT at the local level increased by 20.34 percent. However, revenue earnings rose by only 12.43 percent at the import level.

The official said both the government and the Bangladesh Bank took various steps to discourage import of unnecessary goods to ease pressure on the foreign currency reserve.

As a result, growth in revenue earnings at the import level is somewhat lower, he added.

The NBR has already formed two taskforces to speed up revenue collection. The taskforces have detected tax evasions by a good number of big companies. Revenues worth around Tk 2,000 crore may be realised from them, he said.

He also said an alternative dispute resolution has recently been introduced to fast-track settlement of tax-related cases out of court, which will spin off a handsome amount of revenue at the end of the year.

Another official said the NBR not only collected an increased amount of revenue from the private sector but also took steps to raise revenue earnings from the public sector.

The tax administrator realised a big amount of revenue from the state-owned mobile phone company and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.

The Daily Star/ Bangladesh/ 30-May-2012