‘Tax education’ can help better compliance

Officials have stressed on conducting a massive tax education campaign for ensuring voluntary compliances of the taxpayers.
The taxpayers should know their rights and responsibilities as well as come out of fear-factors or confusions regarding tax issues, officials said in a presentation at a BCS Taxation Association programme recently.
National Board of Revenue Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem was the chief guest of the event, chaired by Commissioner of Taxes, LTU and BCS (Taxation) Association President Md. Iqbal Hossain.
Md. Sirajul Karim, additional commissioner of taxes, presented the paper with details of the country's existing tax education campaigns, its challenges and way-out.
He recommended three methods of providing tax education including technical, communication and tax assistance programmes.
In the presentation, the taxman has identified some six challenges on the tax education campaign.
Reaching out to the audiences, cooperation of professionals including ministry of education, teachers, students, non-government organisations, businesses organisations connected with small and medium enterprises (SME), celebrities, singers, long-term policy through need assessment, timely delivery etc.
The presentation recommended taking initiative to provide tax education to the new taxpayer in company, firm, individual, SME, tax defaulters.
For professional taxpayers, he suggested launching a 'peer education project' through which selected officials could be trained up for disseminating knowledge to others.
Need-based tax education to the members of professional bodies including the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh, tax bar association, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Teachers Association (accounting, business administration etc. discipline), private tax training centres through Private Public Partnership (PPP) could be geared up, the paper said.
The proposed communication strategies for expanding tax education include keeping connected with the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF), NGOs and local leaders, publications in daily newspapers, talk-shows in radio and television, tax tutorial, using virtual media, workshop seminar on amendments of tax laws.
The paper has proposed tax assistance programmes making tax laws available in the website, setting up a self-kiosk machine in each of the tax offices for tax education, and awareness programmes in growth centres with a dense population.
Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) in the website, improving service delivery in existing call centres, mobile tax unit for remote areas.
National Board of Revenue Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem was the chief guest and Md. Iqbal Hossain, Commissioner of Taxes, LTU, and President of BCS (Taxation) Association presided over the discussion.
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