Tax revenue collection grew by 16 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, banking largely on a bonanza of car sales and Eid shopping.
Officials attribute the robust growth to an impressive performance by three of the wings of the revenue board.
Income tax, value-added tax (VAT) and customs wings of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) achieved over 15 per cent growth each on average in revenue collection over the corresponding period of previous year.
The revenue board received Tk 282.20 billion in taxes in the July-September period.
The amount is some 20 per cent of the aggregate target worth Tk 1.49 trillion for the current financial year (FY).
VAT wing collected Tk 105 billion from domestic businesses while customs wing Tk 90.78 billion and income tax department Tk 84.36 billion.
Officials said the pace of tax revenue collection usually remains slow in the first half of every FY. But the current FY stands out as an exception-the collection grew satisfactorily compared to the trend of previous years.
The NBR collected major portion of revenue worth Tk 113.69 billion in the month of September alone out of Tk 282.20 billion targeted in the first quarter.
Talking to the FE, a senior tax official said import-duty collection posted the highest growth of 16.11 per cent in the Q1 with the increase of imports involving high rates of duty.
The import of commercial products and motor vehicles increased in the first quarter, contributing a significant amount of tax revenue to the public exchequer.
Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) president Habibullah Dawn also acknowledged the increase in import and sale of motor vehicles in the first quarter.
"Sales of motor cars increased by 30 per cent in the Q1 thanks to the relaxation of loan conditions by the commercial banks," he said. According to data available with the Bangladesh Bank (BB), motor-car imports, in terms of L/C (letter of credit) settlement, increased by 60.12 per cent in the first quarter of the current FY compared to that of last year.
The import of petroleum and petroleum products also increased sharply, by 53.02 per cent, in the July-September period. Petroleum is one of the major revenue sources for the revenue board.
A senior VAT official said the domestic VAT collection also marked a "significant improvement" in July-September, largely as consumption of goods increased due to different festivals, including eid-ul ajha and puja. "Relatively calm political situation also helped the traders and shopping malls run their businesses smoothly," he added.
The government has set the highest target for income-tax collection in the current FY. Target for direct tax collection has been set at Tk 575 billon while Tk 565 billion for VAT and Tk 357.20 billion for import duty.
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