20pc tax-GDP ratio by 2021 possible: Muhith

The government is looking to increase the country's tax-GDP ratio to 20 per cent by 2021, riding on an increasing number of taxpayers, Finance Minister A M A Muhith said on Friday.
"Currently, the tax to GDP ratio of Bangladesh is around 10 to 11 percent, which is quite low compared to many other countries."
Mr Muhith said these while speaking at a programme in the capital organized on the occasion of International Customs Day 2018.
"However, our aim is to increase this ratio to 20 percent by the year 2021."
He opined that the rising number of taxpayers in the country means that such an ambitious target is quite achievable.
"Just a few years ago, the number of taxpayers in the country was 1.4 million, which has already increased to 3.1 million."
The finance minister, in his speech, also predicted that in the near future, customs duty will play a less significant role as revenue source.
"In the near future, income tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) will form the lion's share as the sources of government revenue, while the share of customs duty will decrease."
"The main role of the customs will be to ensure that no unexpected product enters into the country," he added.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed in his speech expressed optimism that the country's export will not be affected by the withdrawal of GSP facilities once Bangladesh graduates from the LDC status.
"Bangladesh does not enjoy GSP facilities in the US market, and yet the US is our biggest export market."
"Similarly, we are very optimistic that our export will not be affected by the withdrawal of GSP in other markets, once Bangladesh graduates from the LDC status," the commerce minister further said.
"We are already preparing for the post-LDC era, and also working on attaining GSP-plus and similar facilities from the European Union," he added.
Prime Minister's Economic Affairs Adviser Mashiur Rahman in his speech noted that the customs-related rules and regulations should be in line with the expansion of industry and increase of production in the country.
"There are many customs-related rules and regulations in the country which ultimately increase the cost of production and decrease the competitiveness of our products."
Noting that currently many local investors are interested in investing abroad, Mr Mashiur said this is mainly because many local investors' capacity has increased so much that the local market is not big enough for them and they need bigger markets overseas.
The adviser also emphasized enhancing capacity and improving attitude of the customs officials.
President of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Md. Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin) in his speech noted that unpredictable regulatory policy is a major constraint for ensuring business-friendly environment in the country.
In this regard he said, "We, the business community, hope that in the future there will be no unpredictable gazette notification or SRO from National Board of Revenue (NBR)."
"Any regulatory move from NBR should come through a consultative process with prior discussion with the business community," he opined.
Chairman of the Standing Committee on Ministry of Finance Dr. Md. Abdur Razzaque in his speech said with an appropriate customs and tariff structure, it is possible to realise the full potentials of many local industries and cut import dependency of many products.
"For example, with appropriate customs and tariff, we can reduce our dependency on imported powder milk to zero within three to five years, and ensure better market for our local poultry industry," he added.
NBR Chairman Md. Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan also spoke on the occasion.

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