NBR revenue up but not enough to meet target
Saturday, 15 December 2007
S M Jahangir
The government drive against tax-evasion and innovation in tax collection have paid some dividend at a time when the nation requires large amount of fund to cope with the economic losses caused by cyclone and recurrent floods.
The government's tax-revenue collection marked a 22.53 per cent growth in the first five months of the current fiscal over that of the matching period of last year as realisation of income tax shot up due to legalisation of undisclosed money by the people and an increase in income tax paid by individual tax identification number (TIN) holders.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) collected revenues worth about Tk 158.20 billion during the July-November period of fiscal 2007-08 compared to nearly Tk 129.12 billion in the same period of the last fiscal, official figures showed. However, the NBR has to go a long way to achieve its revenue target of Tk 438.5 billion set for the current fiscal year.
According to official figures, the collection of income tax registered a 44.66 per cent growth during the period because the NBR received an amount of Tk 8.02 billion as normal tax and penalty through legalising Tk 52.13-billion worth of undisclosed income.
The government had earlier offered a facility to legalise untaxed income for the period between June and September last with the payment of 5.0 per cent penalty in addition to normal rate of tax.
"Collection of income tax in increased volume pushed the government's overall revenue income significantly up in the recent months," a senior NBR official said, adding the revenue earnings from other areas had also gone up substantially.
The NBR collected income tax amounting to more than Tk 32.12 billion until November of the 2007-08 fiscal while the collection was about Tk 22.20 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal, the figures showed.
Like the income tax, revenue collection on account of customs duty and value added tax (VAT) also increased considerably during the last July-November period.
The collection of VAT grew by 15.41 per cent during the first five months of the current fiscal over that of the matching period of last fiscal. But the growth trend if continues is unlikely to meet the annual target for VAT collection.
The NBR collected Tk 53.43 billion as VAT until November of fiscal 2007-08 while the amount was nearly Tk 46.30 billion as of November 2006 of the last fiscal.
After recording a poor growth trend over the last couple of years, the collection of customs duties also went up significantly during the last July-September period following some prudent steps taken by the revenue administration.
The collection of customs duties rose by nearly 18.96 per cent to more than Tk 70.81 billion during the first five months of the current fiscal against Tk 34 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal, the figures revealed.
The customs authority has already taken up steps including prevention of duty evasion and improvement of its customs clearance procedures for boosting the government's revenue at the import stages, sources said.
Meanwhile, revenue collection from other sources including travel tax also increased to Tk 1.83 billion during the July-November period of the current fiscal from Tk 1.09 billion in the corresponding months of last fiscal.
The government drive against tax-evasion and innovation in tax collection have paid some dividend at a time when the nation requires large amount of fund to cope with the economic losses caused by cyclone and recurrent floods.
The government's tax-revenue collection marked a 22.53 per cent growth in the first five months of the current fiscal over that of the matching period of last year as realisation of income tax shot up due to legalisation of undisclosed money by the people and an increase in income tax paid by individual tax identification number (TIN) holders.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) collected revenues worth about Tk 158.20 billion during the July-November period of fiscal 2007-08 compared to nearly Tk 129.12 billion in the same period of the last fiscal, official figures showed. However, the NBR has to go a long way to achieve its revenue target of Tk 438.5 billion set for the current fiscal year.
According to official figures, the collection of income tax registered a 44.66 per cent growth during the period because the NBR received an amount of Tk 8.02 billion as normal tax and penalty through legalising Tk 52.13-billion worth of undisclosed income.
The government had earlier offered a facility to legalise untaxed income for the period between June and September last with the payment of 5.0 per cent penalty in addition to normal rate of tax.
"Collection of income tax in increased volume pushed the government's overall revenue income significantly up in the recent months," a senior NBR official said, adding the revenue earnings from other areas had also gone up substantially.
The NBR collected income tax amounting to more than Tk 32.12 billion until November of the 2007-08 fiscal while the collection was about Tk 22.20 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal, the figures showed.
Like the income tax, revenue collection on account of customs duty and value added tax (VAT) also increased considerably during the last July-November period.
The collection of VAT grew by 15.41 per cent during the first five months of the current fiscal over that of the matching period of last fiscal. But the growth trend if continues is unlikely to meet the annual target for VAT collection.
The NBR collected Tk 53.43 billion as VAT until November of fiscal 2007-08 while the amount was nearly Tk 46.30 billion as of November 2006 of the last fiscal.
After recording a poor growth trend over the last couple of years, the collection of customs duties also went up significantly during the last July-September period following some prudent steps taken by the revenue administration.
The collection of customs duties rose by nearly 18.96 per cent to more than Tk 70.81 billion during the first five months of the current fiscal against Tk 34 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal, the figures revealed.
The customs authority has already taken up steps including prevention of duty evasion and improvement of its customs clearance procedures for boosting the government's revenue at the import stages, sources said.
Meanwhile, revenue collection from other sources including travel tax also increased to Tk 1.83 billion during the July-November period of the current fiscal from Tk 1.09 billion in the corresponding months of last fiscal.