State exchequer counts an estimated domestic revenue loss of Tk 8.73 billion daily as production, trade and services falter for the ongoing nationwide quota-protest shutdown coupled with internet blackout.
And an indefinite countrywide curfew imposed by the government to come to grips with the volatile situation mostly keeps people indoors, save two two-hour intermissions so far in the last two days, thus disrupting economic activity, businesses and revenue officials say.
Revenue officials say mainly consumption taxes are being dealt a blow for the closure of services sector, restaurants and shopping malls.
They, however, think the revenue won't be lost completely in some cases such as import of goods and income-tax collection at source as those could be collected later on.
A senior NBR official told the FE correspondent that a huge backlog would be created at customs points in releasing imports and realizing revenue after conducting assessment.
Meanwhile, the National Revenue Board has instructed all customs houses to release perishable goods through manual assessment as Asycuda system is not operable without internet.
On average, country's largest entry point, Chittagong Customs House (CCH), collects Tk 1.86 billion per day. The CCH collected Tk 680 billion in revenue in the just-concluded financial year.
An FE estimate shows the domestic revenue losses on the basis of annual revenue collection by the revenue board last year at Tk 3.19 trillion, which may vary.
However, tax officials say they have not calculated the revenue loss yet as overall domestic-revenue-mobilisation process remained shut.
To keep uninterrupted the supply of perishables, the customs, on Saturday, instructed its stations across the country to accept any bank document on releasing those and conduct manual assessment.
Benapole and Bhomra land ports' customs, Dhaka Customs House are the major gateways to perishable goods while Chittagong Customs House deals with mainly refrigerated containers of perishables.
A senior customs official in CCH said the customs house received the instructions from the NBR and were taking measures accordingly.
"We are releasing fish, fruits, rice, lentils, wheat and other essentials through manual assessment," he said.
He said refrigerated containers of perishable goods are not prone to fast decay so customs officials are making cautious move to prevent any duty evasion taking advantage of this situation.
Commissioner of Benapole Customs House Abdul Hakim says perishable goods are among the top five import items this largest land-customs station deals with.
"We are taking move to release consignments of chili and tomato imported today as fast as possible. Usually, customs used to release perishable goods within 24 hours of import," he adds.
"After resumption of the internet, we will insert the data in Asycuda to adjust with the system."
The customs officials said they cannot operate individually without having active server of port authority, banks.
A VAT official says retail value-added tax (VAT) collection would be hampered most due to the ongoing turmoil, stoked by reports of widespread clashes that have so far left over a hundred people dead.
Until May, tax-revenue collection had amounted to Tk 3.24 trillion. The government's DRM or domestic revenue mobilisation target was Tk 4.10 trillion for the past FY2023-24.
However, the DRM data until June 2024 were yet to be made available by the NBR.
On average, the NBR collects around Tk 300 billion worth of taxes every month.
For the current FY2024-25, the government has set the target at Tk 4.80 trillion for NBR, expecting a 17.07-percent growth year on year.
For FY25, both income tax and VAT wings of the revenue board have to collect Tk 1.78 trillion (Tk 177,600) worth of revenue while customs wing Tk 1.25 trillion (Tk 124,800).
In FY 23, the NBR's tax-collection target was Tk 3.70 trillion. It collected Tk 3.19 trillion, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) data.
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