NBR to set up 2 more LTUs in Rajshahi and Khulna

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has moved to intensify its task of monitoring the large businesses in divisional cities by setting up more Large Taxpayers Units (LTUs).
Two more LTUs under the income tax wing will be set up in Rajshahi and Khulna to monitor the large taxpayers in those cities.
The first-ever LTU in the country, a brainchild of International Monetary Fund (IMF), was established in 2003 to introduce the functional-type taxation system.
Currently, there are two LTUs in the country under the income tax wing --- in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Under the units, there are some 300 large companies that include banks, financial institutions, mobile phone companies, tobacco companies etc.
A senior tax official said the revenue board has taken the move to concentrate more on large businesses to make up for the prevailing shortfall in revenue collection.
Upon being concerned over the stagnant economy, the revenue board has decided to widen its supervision to check tax evasion by large companies, he added.
Taxmen have recorded a significant growth in tax collection in the northern region that had always lagged behind as poor-income cities.
In fiscal year (FY) 2012-13, the NBR's tax collection from the northern part of the country surpassed its target by Tk 85 million.
The income tax wing has received taxes almost double the amount it expected from Rangpur and Bogra. The NBR received Tk 1.17 billion income tax from Bogra, and Tk 1.72 billion from Rangpur. Income tax collection surpassed its target by Tk 900 million from Rangpur, while from Bogra the target was surpassed by Tk 650 million.
Also, income tax collection from Rajshahi was quite satisfactory compared to the previous years.
The tax authorities received Tk 2.62 billion in FY 2012-13 against its target of Tk 1.77 billion from the three cities in northern Bangladesh.
Following the findings of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) on the increase of per capita income and reduction in income inequality, the tax authorities planned to expand the LTU across the country.
However, income tax collection posted higher growth in the last few years compared to that of the other two wings --- Customs and VAT.
Aggregate income tax collection achieved 27 per cent growth in the last fiscal surpassing its target by Tk 11.78 billion.
Tax at source contributed 51 per cent, while effort-based collection 49 per cent of the total income tax.
The wing collected Tk 364.78 billion income tax against its target of Tk 353 billion.