NBR to spread wings
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Doulot Akter Mala
The government plans a major capacity building of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) through expansion of its offices and increasing manpower, officials said Thursday.
The expansion plan will be materialised from the upcoming fiscal. Finance minister AMA Muhith is expected to announce the plan while presenting the national budget on June 11.
"The government might allow us to expand income tax, VAT and customs department across the country from the next fiscal. We are planning to expand the tax offices to upazillas," said NBR chairman Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed.
The revenue board will also recruit officers for its three wings, where shortage of manpower is acute.
"We have requested the Public Service Commission (PSC) to create provision for recruitment of more revenue officials," he added.
Income tax, VAT and customs department have submitted detailed expansion plan to the finance ministry for consideration.
"The government is likely to allow establishment of nearly 300 tax offices in major commercial places in upazilas while setting up of more than 100 VAT and customs offices may be approved by the finance ministry," an official said.
Expansion proposal of income tax department said: "The department has been running with the 16-year old logistics while number of taxpayers and revenue collection increased manifolds."
Income tax officials have proposed to expand income tax offices in the important commercial places in different upazillas. It has proposed to establish 695 tax offices, rising from existing 303 circle offices.
Income tax department eyes 6.0 million new taxpayers by next five years. It has also set a target of Tk550 billion worth of income tax by 2013-14 if the government approves its expansion plan, the proposal said.
"Only 1.25 per cent individuals and companies are currently under tax net affecting collection of direct tax collection in the country," the proposal said.
The government now spends Tk 0.75 for collection of income tax amounting to Tk 100. It will be reduced to Tk 0.48 after implementation of the proposed expansion .
It also proposed appointment of a joint commissioner (legal) in every circle to resolve court cases.
A large number of cases involving millions of taka in income tax remains pending over the years due to shortage of manpower to resolve them, said a tax official.
The NBR also requested to increase territorial zone to 35 from 18. Income tax department has requested the government to establish eight new tax zones in addition to existing seven tax zones.
There were only 3,93,000 taxpayers in 1992 while income tax collection target was Tk 13 billion.
In 1992, the then government raised tax circles by 191 and recruited 2799 new income tax officials.
Number of taxpayers rose to 0.43 million from 0.39 million while income tax collection increased to Tk 18.54 billion in the first year of expansion, the income tax proposal said.
Expansion proposal of VAT and customs department underscored the need for recruiting more officials on an urgent basis. Fresh recruitment in some major posts has remained suspended since 1984 due to some complexities.
"Customs and VAT department have been operating with 37 per cent vacant posts. Every month more that 10-12 officials are going on retirement," the proposal said.
The government is seriously considering the proposals of income tax, VAT and customs department to resolve the issues as soon as possible as the present government's main focus is on boosting internal revenue, said a senior government official.
Next year, revenue collection target for NBR will be Tk 615 billion. The NBR will give more focus to raise collection of direct tax as import revenue will decline with the fall in global commodity prices, he added.
The government plans a major capacity building of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) through expansion of its offices and increasing manpower, officials said Thursday.
The expansion plan will be materialised from the upcoming fiscal. Finance minister AMA Muhith is expected to announce the plan while presenting the national budget on June 11.
"The government might allow us to expand income tax, VAT and customs department across the country from the next fiscal. We are planning to expand the tax offices to upazillas," said NBR chairman Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed.
The revenue board will also recruit officers for its three wings, where shortage of manpower is acute.
"We have requested the Public Service Commission (PSC) to create provision for recruitment of more revenue officials," he added.
Income tax, VAT and customs department have submitted detailed expansion plan to the finance ministry for consideration.
"The government is likely to allow establishment of nearly 300 tax offices in major commercial places in upazilas while setting up of more than 100 VAT and customs offices may be approved by the finance ministry," an official said.
Expansion proposal of income tax department said: "The department has been running with the 16-year old logistics while number of taxpayers and revenue collection increased manifolds."
Income tax officials have proposed to expand income tax offices in the important commercial places in different upazillas. It has proposed to establish 695 tax offices, rising from existing 303 circle offices.
Income tax department eyes 6.0 million new taxpayers by next five years. It has also set a target of Tk550 billion worth of income tax by 2013-14 if the government approves its expansion plan, the proposal said.
"Only 1.25 per cent individuals and companies are currently under tax net affecting collection of direct tax collection in the country," the proposal said.
The government now spends Tk 0.75 for collection of income tax amounting to Tk 100. It will be reduced to Tk 0.48 after implementation of the proposed expansion .
It also proposed appointment of a joint commissioner (legal) in every circle to resolve court cases.
A large number of cases involving millions of taka in income tax remains pending over the years due to shortage of manpower to resolve them, said a tax official.
The NBR also requested to increase territorial zone to 35 from 18. Income tax department has requested the government to establish eight new tax zones in addition to existing seven tax zones.
There were only 3,93,000 taxpayers in 1992 while income tax collection target was Tk 13 billion.
In 1992, the then government raised tax circles by 191 and recruited 2799 new income tax officials.
Number of taxpayers rose to 0.43 million from 0.39 million while income tax collection increased to Tk 18.54 billion in the first year of expansion, the income tax proposal said.
Expansion proposal of VAT and customs department underscored the need for recruiting more officials on an urgent basis. Fresh recruitment in some major posts has remained suspended since 1984 due to some complexities.
"Customs and VAT department have been operating with 37 per cent vacant posts. Every month more that 10-12 officials are going on retirement," the proposal said.
The government is seriously considering the proposals of income tax, VAT and customs department to resolve the issues as soon as possible as the present government's main focus is on boosting internal revenue, said a senior government official.
Next year, revenue collection target for NBR will be Tk 615 billion. The NBR will give more focus to raise collection of direct tax as import revenue will decline with the fall in global commodity prices, he added.