Muhith asks tax officials to work with district admin

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Tuesday urged the district-level revenue officials to work in close cooperation with local administration for increasing volume of revenue as well as number of taxpayers.
The finance minister gave the instruction while addressing a session of the three-day annual conference of deputy commissioners (DCs) at the Cabinet Division conference room on Tuesday.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the programme at her office. The conference consists of 22 sessions.
"From now on the tax officials will work with administration to increase revenue collection and find out new taxpayers," said the finance minister while talking to the press after the meeting with the DCs.
He gave the instruction when the district administrators, who attended the conference, opined that both revenue collection and number of taxpayers could be increased substantially, if the district revenue officials could seek their cooperation.
The minister said some of the DCs assured him of identifying as much as 100,000 taxpayers from a single district, as they know who really hold wealth and who can pay tax.
To bring dynamism in rural economy, agriculture credit plays a vital role. But most of the DCs complained that they do not know anything about the loan, which is mainly disbursed through banking channel.
Involving local administration could bring more fruitful result in this regard, as they know the real farmers and their needs. The minister assured them of their involvement in this regard.
The DCs also complained about lack of space in district treasuries for accommodation of necessary and valuable goods. Sometimes, they even cannot accommodate seized and forfeited goods, they added.
The finance minister gave a patient hearing to their complaints and said he would request the Ministry of Public Administration to take necessary measures.
The meeting was addressed, among others, by Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal and Prime minister's Economic Affairs Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman. Cabinet secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, NBR chairman Nojibur Rahman and Banking Division secretary Dr M Aslam Alam attended the evening session that discussed issues relating to the Ministry of Finance and the Planning Commission.
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