Government goes for augmenting non-tax revenue to meet needs

The government plans to augment non-tax revenues and non-NBR tax collection by exploring new areas to meet its growing fund needs, officials said.
Besides, a hike in fees on different items under different ministries, divisions and departments is likely as the government authorities contemplate re-fixing the rates after a review.
The finance division has taken the decision at an inter-ministerial meeting on non-tax revenue and non-NBR (National Board of Revenue) taxes. Senior secretary of the finance division Hedayetullah Al Mamoon presided over the meeting.
The current move is mainly for potential sectors and new avenues for increasing earnings to meet revenue target of the government, a source concerned said.
Currently, some 18 to 20 per cent out of total revenue earnings are received from non-tax revenue and non-NBR tax areas annually, according to the finance ministry.
The government will search for new sectors to impose fees for enhancing its earning, the sources said.
The decision to postpone enforcement of the new VAT law by two more years has unsettled the government's budgetary projection on the revenue collection for the current financial year. It is estimated that non-enforcement of the law would deprive the state coffer of tax revenue worth Tk 200 billion.
Revenue collection from different items under different ministries and divisions and state entities is poor compared to other organisations.
"We expect that generating income through non-tax revenue and non-NBR tax is not difficult. We can identify more items which can be worked upon to achieve government's non-tax-revenue target," the official of finance division told the FE.
Revenue earning from railway department, postal department, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), Pertrobangla, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), the Department of Immigration and Passports, Law and Justice Division and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) would be possible to increase by reviewing their present status, he said.
Besides, prices of ration items of the ministry of food should be time-befitting that can boost government revenue earnings, he mentioned.
"A significant volume of revenue from transport sector could be earned if the government took required initiatives to remove existing obstacles in this sector," he also said.
The finance minister said in budget speech the revenue target is expected to be achieved due to recent initiatives for revising fees/rates.
The budget for the current fiscal puts revenue projection at about Tk 2.88 trillion. Of the amount, the target of non-NBR-tax-revenue collection has been fixed at Tk 86.62 billion. The target of non-tax revenue collection has been set at Tk 311.79 billion for the current fiscal year (2017-18).
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