Door-to-door survey from next week to net new taxpayers

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FE Report
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will start a door-to-door survey from next week in the city hoping to net in 0.4 million new taxpayers for increasing income tax collection in the current fiscal.
The external survey will continue for three months and find out new taxpayers in 15 areas.
"We will start the survey from August 16 in Uttara. The survey will be expanded to other areas gradually," said NBR member (taxes survey and inspection) Mohammad Khorshed Alam.
A total of 100 inspectors will conduct the survey in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet, he said.
Of them 65 inspectors will conduct the survey in Dhaka, 29 in Chittagong and 6 in Sylhet.
"It would be different from earlier surveys where businesses and professional houses were the target. This will be a blanket survey for all taxpayers," he said.
In the first phase, the NBR team will carry out the survey in Uttara, Basundhara, Baridhara, Banosri, Nikunja, Savar, Dohar, Nawabganj, Keraniganj of Dhaka district, Louhojong of Munshiganj district, Patia, Sitakunda, Satkania, Hathajari, Mirershwarai of Chittagong district, and Beanibazar of Sylhet district.
The NBR will go for a massive drive door-to-door visit in the current fiscal following directives of the Finance minister AMA Muhith.
The revenue board has sought lists of apartment, plots and land owners from Rehab and city corporations to find out people who have taxable income but not paying taxes, said a senior official of income tax department.
One-third of the TIN (taxpayers' identification number) holders who have obtained the TIN certificate for different purpose, do not pay taxes, he said.
The NBR team will also net those defaulter TIN holders in the current survey, he added.
Only 0.7 million taxpayers submitted tax returns last year out of 2.3 million TIN holders.
In the current fiscal, the government has included two new measures to extend the use of TIN.
From 2009-10, people have to furnish TIN certificate at the time of taking approval of house building or property development from four city development authorities in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Khulna, he said.
TIN certificates will be required at the time of issuance of drug licences as well, he added.
The government has set Tk 165.60 billion target for income tax collection, which is 27 per cent of total revenue target.
NBR officials said income tax department will able to exceed its collection target this year as it has taken a number of moves from the first month of fiscal 2009-2010.