Success of Tax Fair 2013 raises expectation

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Shahana Bilkis Officials of Bangladesh Board of Revenue (NRB) once again arranged a tax fair this year to create awareness about income tax among the people of Bangladesh. Following enthusiasm among the people, the NBR is holding tax fair every year to ensure hassle-free environment on payment of tax. There were different types of stalls in this fair to inform people of the tax system of Bangladesh and why and how a citizen will submit his or her income report and how the tax is calculated. NRB Officials hoped that from this event they would receive a significant number of new tax payers which will increase NRB's revenue and control of money earned in illegal manners. Making people aware of income tax and increasing the number of tax payers was the main focus this year. The week-long income tax fair concluded on Officers' Club premises in the city recently amid enthusiasm of taxpayers. NRB collected a total of Tk 11.17 billion income tax from the tax fair, up by about 34.41 per cent from the previous year. Some 510,145 taxpayers obtained services from the tax fairs across the country, while 132,017 submitted their tax returns. E-TIN registration was another main focus of the income tax fair this year. A total of 74,356 existing taxpayers obtained fresh TIN, while 12,337 new taxpayers registered themselves in the fair. It has crossed the previous records of visitor turnout and tax returns submission. NBR deserves kudos for its expansion throughout the country. This year, the fair was held in all divisional cities, 54 district towns and three hilly districts. This fair offered people one-stop services such as assistance with filing of tax returns and tax payment either manually or electronically. Taxpayers are satisfied as they could complete tax-related works without any hassle, unlike in field offices where they have to wait long and put up with rent-seeking behaviour of the staff. It is obviously interesting that after introduction of the tax fair, some taxpayers wait for submitting their tax returns at the fair in a festive mood to avoid any kind of hassle in the tax offices. Income tax is the second biggest source of revenue after value added tax. The collection of income or direct tax has been growing over the past years because the country has witnessed a sustained economic growth over the past 10 years and the number of middle income earners has increased in the same period. The NBR set a target of collecting Tk 48,297 crore income tax for the fiscal 2013-14, which is 32 per cent higher than last fiscal year's receipts. NBR's motivational campaigns for tax payment, efforts to curb tax evasion and increase tax net helped the revenue authority to receive more tax. Spontaneity of the taxpayers has increased from the previous years. As the tax fair was open to all, any visitor could ask NBR officials about any type of query related to income tax, people spontaneously participated in the fair. NBR officials have also taken initiatives to remove the ingrained negative attitudes towards income tax from people's mind. According to NBR Officials, a lot of people want to pay tax but they don't pay tax as they think this is a critical process. Visitors in the tax fair understood the whole process and how easy to be a tax payer. The revenue-starved authorities are stunned by the idea's success. While the government thinks it was an important contribution towards social justice that goes translates into reducing the gap between the rich and the lower income groups, equal distribution of resources and reduction of the dependence on foreign aid loan, the taxpayers want to see how the government would spend their money. The taxpayers also expect the government to use their taxes judiciously. They want the money to be used for improvement of the country's ailing infrastructure, healthcare and creation of more job opportunities for the younger generation. [email protected]