Tax collection from the tobacco sector, one of the major sources, has declined despite hiking the tax rates mainly because illegal local production and smuggling of cigarettes could not be curbed due to lax enforcement, National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan said on Monday.
He said the enforcement by revenue officials was not strong enough to control the sales of smuggled cigarettes and unlawful local production.
In January, the NBR raised taxes on tobacco and its price slabs up to 83 per cent, expecting to mobilise an additional Tk 100 billion, but the move backfired, said Mr Khan at a seminar organised for the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) members on the NBR premises.
Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed attended the seminar on changes in income tax, customs, and VAT measures in the FY26 budget. ERF President Doulot Akter Mala attended the programme as a special guest.
The finance adviser inaugurated the updated online tax return portal for individual taxpayers at the beginning of the programme.
He said pessimistic comments about the government's efforts hurt the policymakers. Some people and young economists, it seems, do not want to see any progress on the economic front.
Responding to newsmen's questions, the NBR chairman said enforcement is lax at customs points to check illegal iPhone imports.
He said the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is currently developing software to detect illegal handsets so that no untaxed phone can be used in the country.
A project to develop the software started long ago, but it is yet to see the light of day, he said.
On tax exemptions for Grameen Bank, the NBR chairman said the tax policy has not offered any extra privilege to the entity.
Income tax policy member AKM Badiul Alam, Customs policy member Md Mubinul Kabir, and VAT policy member Azizur Rahman also spoke at the seminar.
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