Weeklong tax fair opens in Dhaka

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday assured the country's taxpayers of eliminating irregularities from the tax system.

"I assure you that there will be no more irregularities," he said while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a weeklong tax fair 2019 which began at the Officers' Club in Dhaka on the day.

"Whatever happened in the past had happened, there will be no more irregularities," he added.

The finance minister said he was aware of low-level officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) involved in irregularities.

He also urged taxpayers to file complaints to him directly if anybody "commits irregularities or misconduct in the tax system."

However, the finance minister paid a sum of Tk 70,600,956 as income tax this year at the tax fair. He handed over a cheque to NBR Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan.

Mr Kamal said: "My yearly income decreased a bit compared to that of last year." But he did not cite any reason behind the decrease in his income.

The NBR chief, however, informed journalists that a representative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tax on her behalf at the fair premises.

He didn't disclose the sum of money paid by the premier.

Country's top telecom player Grameenphone and Islami Bank handed over cheques for Tk 1.5 billion and Tk 1.0 billion respectively to the NBR chairman at the fair.

The weeklong fair in the city will continue till November 20 while the fairs at district level will remain open for four days.

Besides, the NBR will arrange a two-day fair in 48 upazilas and a daylong mobile fair in eight upazilas.

Taxpayers will be able to file tax returns, pay taxes and do other related tasks at the fair venue with the help of tax officials. Anyone can also get electronic Tax Identification Numbers (e-TINs) at the fairs.

2019 marks the 10th year for the tax fair since its inception in 2010. The fair has gained huge popularity as it gives an opportunity to taxpayers to submit income tax returns within a short time and without visiting any tax offices.

The NBR chairman expressed the hope that the number of the country's taxpayers will increase to about 3 million in the current fiscal year 2019-20 from about 2.2 million in the previous fiscal year.

Last year, officials said, the fair brought to the state coffer a record Tk 24.68 billion which was about 11 per cent higher than the amount collected from the fair in the previous year.

The revenue board is planning to collect Tk 30 billion as income tax.

For the first time, taxpayers will be able to pay their tax at the fair this year, using mobile financial services (MFS). They will also be able to pay tax using their mobile phone from separate booths at the tax fair.

Various MFSs such as Nagad, bKash, Rocket, Upay and SurePay will be interconnected with e-payment portal of NBR.

However, the authorities concerned collected tax of Tk 3.23 billion on the first day of the tax fair, according to a press statement issued by NBR.

A total of 135,758 people received various services from the fair and 63,272 taxpayers submitted their returns.

Some 4,366 new tax identification numbers were issued on the day.

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