Government’s tax receipts fall Tk 33.55b short of Q1 target

Tax-revenue collection fell short of the target by Tk 33.55 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (FY).
All of the three wings of the revenue board missed their respective targets in the July-September (Q1) period. However, the revenue collection during the period under review was higher than that of the corresponding period of last FY, according to official data.
Sources said all the three wings of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) were lagging far behind lofty targets set for the Q1.
Income-tax collection faced the highest shortfall of Tk 13. 33 billion in Q1, accounting for a major share in the aggregate tax-collection shortfall.
The customs wing counted Tk 11.19 billion and VAT wing Tk 9.02 billion shortfall against their respective targets for the period.
Although income-tax collection from Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) grew by 22 per cent, aggregate receipts from all of the field-level income-tax offices stood off the mark.
In the weeklong tax fairs on November 1-7, the tax authority saw 72.40 per cent growth in tax returns but income-tax collection marked a nominal growth of 4.12 per cent.
The NBR received Tk 22.17 billion in income tax and 335,487 income-tax returns from the tax fairs staged across the country to spur up revenue collection for the national exchequer.
Explaining the situation a senior income-tax official said, "Usually, income-tax collection remains sluggish in the Q1 every year."
The income-tax collection would go in high gear in the second quarter as time for tax-return submission for individuals and some of the corporate taxpayers would end on November 30 and December 30 respectively, he added. Officials said the target for the tax-revenue collection was set at Tk 471 billion in the Q1of the current FY with an expectation of 34 per cent growth which they find "ambitious".
The NBR collected Tk 437.45 billion in the July-September period, with a 20 per cent growth. In the corresponding period last year, the collection was worth Tk 364.36 billion.
The income-tax wing collected Tk 129 billion in the July-September period against its target of Tk 143.08 billion.
However, the income-tax wing achieved 18.66 per cent growth in Q1 compared to that of the same period last year.
Despite deferment of the implementation of the new VAT and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 by two years, the VAT wing has continued to contribute the highest amount to the government revenues.
In the Q1 under review, the VAT collectors collected Tk 167.46 billion worth of revenue.
Officials said the tax authority has geared up enforcement of the existing VAT law 1991 to make up for the estimated revenue loss this year due to the deferment of the new law.
The target for the VAT wing has been set on the basis of measures devised in the new VAT law.
Officials said the aggregate tax-revenue-collection target may see a cut at the end of the FY like in the previous years.
Customs wing collected Tk 140.25 billion in Q1 against its target of Tk 151.44 billion.
The government has set a Tk 2.48-trillion tax-collection target for the NBR in FY 2017-18.
According to the NBR data, tax-revenue earnings on average had grown by 14.28 per cent in the last five years.
In the current FY, target for VAT collection has been set at Tk 910 billion, income tax Tk 871.90 billion and customs duty at Tk 700 billion.

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