Revenue collection falls short of target in Q1

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Doulot Akter Mala
Revenue collection by the three wings of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) fell short of targets in the first quarter of fiscal 2008-09, thanks to drop in the prices of commodities and oil in international market.
The major revenue collecting wing -- customs department - lagged behind the target by Tk 4.03 billion due to sharp decline in prices of major import items.
The department, however, recorded a 28 per cent growth in revenue collection. The revenue collection was worth Tk52.31 billion, which was Tk 11.33 billion more compared with that of the same period in previous fiscal.
For the current fiscal, the government projected 41 per cent growth in revenue for the customs department to help achieve the total tax-revenue collection target of Tk 545 billion.
Collection from Value Added Tax (VAT) and income tax also fell short of target by Tk 7.64 billion and Tk 11.05 billion respectively in the first quarter.
Although the revenue board has achieved growth of around 18 per cent and 10 per cent respectively in VAT and Income tax collection in the July-September period over the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
In a quarterly analysis for 2006-07 to 2008-09, it is found that the NBR has achieved a 20.36 per cent growth in first quarter than that of the same period in last fiscal. But, growth rate was 22.84 per cent in July-September period in 2007-08 compared to previous fiscal.
The government has set a higher revenue collection target following the upward trend of commodity prices in the international market in June, but the situation has dramatically changed now, said a senior customs official.
The government had set tariff structure on the basis of product prices, he said adding that the declining prices of MS rod and fuel oil will mostly affect the revenue earning of customs department.
When asked whether the NBR has any plan to bring change in tariff structure, the official said: "We will adopt a wait-and-see policy and observe the situation. Any tariff change will directly affect the local market and businesses."
The NBR, however, collected Tk 19.14 billion more in July-September period in the current fiscal compared to that of the previous fiscal.
Officials said the revenue collection usually remain slow in the first quarter every fiscal. They expressed their hope that it would gain momentum from January next.