Govt's offer to legalise undisclosed income falls on deaf ears

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Doulot Akter Mala
The government's offer to the people to legalise their undisclosed income have fallen into deaf ears as only 2000 people seized the opportunity with the deadline expiring on Thursday, officials said.
The revenue board offered the out-of-the-box facility for four months, from July to October, allowing people to legalise undisclosed income by paying seven per cent penal tax in addition to normal taxes.
But with the deadline expiring in just two days time, some 2000 people have come forward to declare their undisclosed income, senior National Board of Revenue (NBR) officials said Tuesday.
"Till October 15, our data shows that only 1850 people have declared their undisclosed income worth Tk 1.50 billion," said an official.
The Board mopped up tax worth Tk 200 million from the declared income, which is a small fraction of the amount it targeted in the current fiscal budget.
The poor response has angered NBR's top brass with officials considering stern action against the bigwigs who have requested the government to give the opportunity but did not avail it.
"During the budget making process, some influential people came to us, urging continuation of the undisclosed income legalizing facility," said the official.
"But the poor response shows that these people haven't taken the NBR seriously," he said, adding the board was considering taking 'action' against the evaders.
Last year's huge response also bolstered the revenue board to offer the opportunity this year, as the board had mopped up tax worth Tk 8.02 billion in 2007-8.
A total of 42,459 people declared their undisclosed income worth Tk 52.13 billion in the last fiscal year by paying 5.0 per cent penal tax in addition to normal taxes.
Analysing their penal tax files, NBR officials said mainly people from the middle-income bracket disclosed their income, with the massive anti-graft and tax crackdown working as a tonic.
Officials said one of the reasons behind the poor response was due to some shifts in NBR's policy.
This year, the board has changed its 'scare-tactics', adopting a new 'gentle-manly' strategy to motivate the taxpayers instead of forcing them.