Finance Minister A H M Mustafa Kamalstressed the need for assessing data on existing tax exemptions to know the actual amount of revenue collection in the country.
He opined that the revenue collection achievement would have been much higher, if the government had not considered the tax waivers, offered to various sectors.
Speaking at a virtual seminar on the occasion of International Customs Day 2021 on Tuesday, the finance minister said there must be a record of tax exemption data with the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
Currently, there is no specific data on the impact of tax exemption that ate up a significant amount of tax revenue.
He said internal revenue collection is the lifeline of the economy that can salvage the country in this challenging situation.
Mr Kamal, however, suggested the NBR personnel to be more cordial to address the demands of business community.
"There must be a win-win situation between the NBR and the businessmen. It is not expected that the businesses will always win, while the NBR will lose its revenue."
The businesses should keep in mind that they also have responsibility to pay taxes.
The finance minister suggested the customs authorities to work for reducing delivery time of export-import goods to facilitate businesses.
The government has taken moves to install scanner in the customs ports to check misdeclaration in import and export of goods, he added.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Sheikh Fazle Fahim said the apex chamber will work with the NBR to expand the existing tax-net.
He stressed the need for ensuring all transactions through banking channel to increase the country's tax-GDP ratio. The government also needs to tap the potentials of tax collection from informal economy.
The tax collection will have to be increased to get prepared for graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC), he added.
The NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatual Muneem said the NBR officials worked with all-out efforts to thwart supply chain disruption during the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdown. The NBR will purchase 13 scanners for the customs ports to expedite goods delivery process, he added.
In the seminar, the NBR Member Khandoker Muhammad Aminur Rahman delivered the welcome speech, while Member Syed Golam Kibria presented the keynote paper.
The World Customs Organisation (WCO) Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya also delivered his speech on the virtual platform.
A panel discussion on the International Customs Day was moderated by the NBR Member Masud Sadik. Two other members of the NBR - Dr Abdul Mannan Shikder and Md Alamgir Hossain - joined the discussion as panelists. In the seminar, the NBR honoured seven customs officials, who died of Covid-19 infection while performing their duties, with posthumous award - the WCO Certificate of Merit.
The officials are: Md Idris Ali Mondol, Md Khorshed Alam, Md Rahmat Ali, Jashim Uddin Majumder, Anwar Jabed, Md Kabir Hossain Sikder and Md Kaikobad.
The NBR also awarded 10 of its officials with the WCO Certificate of Merit. They are: Kazi Mustafizur Rahman, commissioner and project director of VAT Online Project, Md Moazzem Hossain, commissioner of Dhaka Custom House, Md Neazur Rahman, additional director general of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate, A K M Nurul Huda Azad, first secretary of the NBR, A K M Zahid Hossain, senior system analyst, Abilin Sangma, deputy commissioner of Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate Dhaka north zone, Md Samsad Hossain, revenue officer, and assistant revenue officers - Md Shafiqul Islam, Md Yakut Zahid and Md Atikur Rahman.
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