Muhith eyes wider user tax to boost revenue

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said on Sunday Bangladesh needs to look for wider ‘user tax’ with an improved system in the future to boost the country’s revenue earning. “It’s my perception that we would discover a new source (in the future)…and the source will be user tax…those who avail themselves of various facilities will have to pay tax,” he told a function in the city. The Finance Minister, however, said taxes are already being realised in some areas. “Probably, this will have to be improved further.” Muhith said the income from duties (at the import stage), which was once a significant amount, has declined significantly over the years and it will decline further. “But the decline isn’t a bad thing for the country.” The Finance Minister said the country saw record revenue earnings over the last five years and more steps need to be taken to boost revenue earnings further as this is vital for smooth functioning of a country. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Bangladesh Customs jointly arranged the function marking the International Customs Day 2014 with NBR Member M Nasir Uddin in the chair, according to a news agency.