NBR badly needs to build its capacity
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
It is a common sense realisation that if one flogs a lame horse to make it run, the horse will not do so or probably run far less than its capacity. A comparison can be made between such a horse and the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the institution entrusted with the collection of revenues for the government.
Governments in the present decade have been declaring bigger and bigger national budgets reflecting the need to spend more both for development and meeting administrative needs. Therefore, mobilising of greater resources is becoming imperative. But how will government succeed in reaching its ambitious revenue collection targets with NBR suffering from a large deficiency in its capacity?
The higher revenue collection can be expected only under circumstances when there are adequate number of revenue collectors and on their efficiency, integrity and motivation. A legal wrangle or unresolved case over appointment or absorption started by Mujibnagar government employees (employees of the government in exile in India before the achievement of independence) is frustrating NBR's attempts to fill the vacant posts of inspectors.
Why NBR has failed to overcome this legal tangle through appointing competent lawyers or resorting to other effective legal measures is a big unknown. The poor capacity of NBR is also starkly reflected in the presence of value added tax (VAT) collection offices in only 35 of the country's 66 districts although VAT has emerged as a major source of revenues during the last two decades. Likewise, the coverage of income tax network has remained dismally poor in Bangladesh, even compared to the situation in countries like Nepal in South Asia.
Therefore the government, and the finance ministry in particular, ought to address NBR's capacity building tasks on the highest priority basis. But increasing the number of tax collectors will not be enough. Better qualified persons should be appointed to various posts in the NBR and they should also be trained well to ensure their fitment also in terms of motivation and quality of character.
Jasimuddin Ahmed
Dhanmondi, Dhaka
Governments in the present decade have been declaring bigger and bigger national budgets reflecting the need to spend more both for development and meeting administrative needs. Therefore, mobilising of greater resources is becoming imperative. But how will government succeed in reaching its ambitious revenue collection targets with NBR suffering from a large deficiency in its capacity?
The higher revenue collection can be expected only under circumstances when there are adequate number of revenue collectors and on their efficiency, integrity and motivation. A legal wrangle or unresolved case over appointment or absorption started by Mujibnagar government employees (employees of the government in exile in India before the achievement of independence) is frustrating NBR's attempts to fill the vacant posts of inspectors.
Why NBR has failed to overcome this legal tangle through appointing competent lawyers or resorting to other effective legal measures is a big unknown. The poor capacity of NBR is also starkly reflected in the presence of value added tax (VAT) collection offices in only 35 of the country's 66 districts although VAT has emerged as a major source of revenues during the last two decades. Likewise, the coverage of income tax network has remained dismally poor in Bangladesh, even compared to the situation in countries like Nepal in South Asia.
Therefore the government, and the finance ministry in particular, ought to address NBR's capacity building tasks on the highest priority basis. But increasing the number of tax collectors will not be enough. Better qualified persons should be appointed to various posts in the NBR and they should also be trained well to ensure their fitment also in terms of motivation and quality of character.
Jasimuddin Ahmed
Dhanmondi, Dhaka