Income tax Tk 52.57b short of target in last seven months

Doulot Akter Mala | Published: February 10, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Payment of tax less than expected by the corporate taxpayers led to Tk 52.57 billion shortfall in the income tax revenue target for the first seven months of the current fiscal year, officials said. Â
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) received Tk 18.99 billion less in income tax against its target from the large taxpayers under the Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) in the July-January period of the fiscal year (FY) 2015-16.
NBR data show the income-tax wing of the board had collected Tk 240.31 billion in taxes until January against its target for Tk 292.88 billion for the period.
However, the receipts marked a 9.66 per cent growth over the corresponding period.
In FY 2014-15, the income-tax department collected Tk 219.10 billion from both individual and corporate taxpayers.
Officials said most of income-tax zones failed to run up to an "ambitious target" for the July-January period.
Of total 31 income-tax zones, 19 field-level tax offices failed to get to their respective targets for the period.
LTU's target for the first seven months was Tk 89.49 billion. The unit collected Tk 70.50 billion.
A significant decline in tax collection from the telecom operators and some large local commercial banks is cited as a major reason for the target failure.
In the first six months (H1), the LTU collected Tk 6.67 billion from mobile-phone operators against Tk 8.98 billion in the corresponding period last year.
However, the shortfall in the tax collection has gradually been increasing over months. In the first half of the current FY (H1), shortfall in income-tax collection was Tk 44.38 billion that was ballooned by Tk 8.19 billion in the July-January period.
Officials list sluggish trend in development works, poor scenario of private-sector investment and an ambitious collection target as the main reasons for the setback.
Advance income tax (AIT) in import stage is one of the major sources of income-tax receipt that contributes some 57 per cent of the direct tax. Sluggish business situation in the country made many businesspeople reluctant over import of commercial goods. Â
In H1 of the fiscal, imports registered a much lower growth of 3.64 per cent compared to 10.08 per cent in the matching period last year, according to Bangladesh Bank (BB) sources.
Pace of government development works is another large source of tax revenue but that also posted a record low growth in eight years in H1.
In the first half of the FY, the government could spend only 24 per cent or Tk 237.77 billion of its total allocation for the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the entire year, according to Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the planning ministry.
The government has set around 30 per cent growth target in income-tax collection in FY 2015-16.
The income-tax-collection target is the highest among the marks set for three wings of the NBR.
The government has set a Tk 1.76-trillion target for the NBR in the current fiscal. Of the target, income tax is Tk 659.32 billion followed by Value Added Tax (VAT) Tk 639.02 billion and customs duty Tk 465.36 billion.
Â Â Â doulot_akter@yahoo.com