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NBR may shelve tax file auditing for time being

Its chief says amid harassment claims


FE Report | Friday, 15 September 2017



The tax authority is exploring the possibility of suspending auditing of tax files for the time being following widespread allegations of taxpayers' harassment through the process, said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman.
There would be no effect on revenue, if the tax men stop auditing of tax files for a few days, said Md Nojibur Rahman, also the Senior Secretary of Internal Resources Division (IRD).
He pledged to explore the possibility of taking the step for the first time at a members' conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) at ICAB Bhaban in the capital on Thursday.
In the programme the ICAB members discussed about various changes in the income tax law, brought by the Finance Act 2017.
The NBR chief said the taxmen have started tax camps across the country to connect with the potential taxpayers, who are still out of the purview of NBR.
"We will bring these people under the purview of tax through motivation. It is not that they will come under a net."
He also said NBR is initiating legal reforms by framing new customs, VAT and income tax laws.
"Although the new VAT law is not implemented this year, the process of digitization is going on."
NBR will place the draft of direct tax code law before the cabinet by January or February, and it may get approval of the parliament to be implemented from July 1, 2018, he noted.
The tax authority will focus on collection of direct tax due to deferment in execution of the new VAT law, he added.
NBR members of its three policy wings - Lutfor Rahman of Customs, Jahangir Hossain of VAT, and Parvez Iqbal of Income Tax - also spoke on the occasion.
Mr Parvez Iqbal said the tax authority will try to increase payroll tax collection that contributes only 4.0 per cent to total income tax collection.
Mr Jahangir Hossain said the tax-GDP ratio should be ideally 15 per cent, but it is around 10 per cent in Bangladesh.
The gap can be lowered through full utilization of capacity, he added.
ICAB President Adib H Khan FCA said NBR changes the laws concerned every year to increase revenue collection, but these should be business-friendly.
The ICAB members placed their respective proposals on the income tax law for the current fiscal year, 2017-18.
Muhammad Mehedi Hasan FCA presented a keynote paper in the seminar on the changes in the income tax law.
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