Revenue target attainable: Muhith

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said although the Tk2.08 trillion revenue- earning target set in the budget proposals seems ‘ambitious’, it is attainable given the increased capability of the National Board of Revenue. “The revenue target is definitely ambitious. But I believe, NBR will definitely succeed. Because their capability has increased a lot,” he told journalists on Monday after a meeting with the collector’s commissioners. Pointing out 1.1 million people currently file tax returns, the minister claimed it could be doubled saying there were a lot of people living outside Dhaka who were eligible to be brought under tax net. “So the revenue target is attainable.” He added the NBR workforce had been increased to 22,000, nearly double of what it was six years back. “Many modern systems have been integrated.”  
“We dared to make a big budget. A large revenue-earning target has been set. But we could not discuss it earlier with the revenue collectors who are in the field. So today’s meeting was to discuss it with them.” Of the total target for 2015-2016 fiscal year (FY), NBR will collect more than Tk1.82 trillion, of which 60 per cent will come from VAT alone. The amount is 30 per cent less than the target for the ongoing fiscal. In the budget for the ongoing fiscal, the NBR collection target was initially set at Tk 1.49 trillion, but was later revised to Tk 1.35 trillion. According to latest data, NBR has managed to raise Tk 927.29 million in the first three quarters. In the meeting, NBR gave several proposals to attain the target, according to bdnews24.com.