A new array of hundreds of products and services - 50 in each category- have been shortlisted for special surveillance on value- added tax (VAT) collection by a high-powered taskforce in a government bid to ramp up revenue.
The 10-member team has been formed by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to help raise the country's perennially low tax-to-GDP ratio.
The items include cigarettes, petroleum products, mobile-phone services, contractors, banks, suppliers and several other high- revenue-generating sectors.
A detailed work plan, obtained by The Financial Express, was outlined in a document prepared by the revenue board's VAT wing for submission to the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Dr Rashed Al Titumir, at a meeting held at the NBR headquarters.
Officials have said a handful of products and services contribute the bulk of VAT revenue, making them key targets for monitoring.
Field-level officials say proper surveillance of high-revenue-generating items could significantly reduce evasion and improve compliance, and thereby give a fillip to tax receipt.
According to the document, cigarettes remain the largest contributor to VAT at the local stage, accounting for 28.54 per cent of revenue. Petroleum gas follows with 8.36 per cent, while medicines contribute 4.37 per cent.
In the services sector, suppliers account for 9.20 per cent of VAT revenue, followed by mobile-phone services at 8.65 per cent, construction 6.26 per cent, banking 4.58 per cent and electricity distribution 2.85 per cent.
In the document, the VAT wing -- the largest contributor to domestic tax revenue -- has outlined a four-point work plan to achieve the revenue-collection target.
According to the plan, Tk 667 billion in VAT is expected to be mobilised during the March-June period through normal business growth.
In addition, Tk 40 billion is projected to be collected from tobacco products, Tk 32 billion from Petrobangla's outstanding VAT dues, while the banking and civil-aviation sectors are expected to contribute around Tk 7.0 billion.
For the current fiscal year, the government has set a VAT- collection target of Tk 1.71 trillion.
Until February, the NBR had collected Tk 580 billion in VAT. To get to the goal, the revenue authority will need to collect Tk 743.18 billion more during the remaining four months of the fiscal year.
The target assumes around 20 per cent growth compared to last year's VAT collection.
The taskforce will also work to realise undisputed arrears, resolve pending cases, expedite audits, initiate preventive interventions against non-compliant companies, conduct drives against illegal cigarette trading and launch special campaigns to improve compliance.
A total of Tk 445 billion in VAT remains stuck in 11,575 court cases arising from disputes between VAT officials and businesses, the document shows.
The amount is equivalent to around 45 days of total revenue collection by the NBR from its three wings - income tax, VAT and customs.
Talking to The Financial Express, NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan said the taskforce had been formed to help achieve revenue- collection goals, expand the VAT net and realise arrears.
"The taskforce will focus on the next four months in the first phase and continue its activities next year to help improve the country's tax-to-GDP ratio," he said.
The taskforce will also intensify efforts to collect VAT from newly registered companies, collect source tax from contractors, suppliers and construction firms and improve overall compliance, according to the work plan.
Each VAT commissionerate will form a team under the taskforce's supervision to ensure effective collection of source tax.
The taskforce will also focus on expanding the VAT net, with April declared as a month for VAT- registration drives.
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