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NBR prioritises 5 sectors to gear up VAT revenue


Published : 19 May 2019 08:52 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 10:05 PM

In a bid to make up the shortfall of tax collection during first three quarters of the current fiscal, the National Board of Revenue has prioritised five fields to reach its value added tax target. The prioritised fields are tax at source, floor space, brick kiln, bidi and value added tax from local trades. In less than two months of the current fiscal, the tax authority now has to collect the Tk 18,580 crore, the shortfall of the first nine months, besides fulfilling the last quarter’s target.

The NBR believes that revenue collection from these sectors was not satisfactory during the first three quarters of the current fiscal, though there were huge opportunities, said officials. NBR took the decision in a recent close-door meeting with Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan in the chair. The meeting was attended by members, commissioners and other senior officials of the organisation.

The revenue collecting authority managed to collect Tk60,119crore in the July-March period of the current fiscal, creating a shortfall of Tk18,580core from the nine months’ target. It has to collect Tk47,082crore more innext three months (April-June) to meet Tk107,201 crore revised target set for the whole fiscal.
Meanwhile, another one month April passed. Sources said at the meeting, NBR chief Mosharraf urged the commissioners to become more active to reach the target, putting special efforts to collecting revenue from the five sectors.

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 “Aftera thorough analysis of different sectors, we have come to the decision that emphasis on revenue collection from those five sectorscan boost collection to a great extent, ultimately reaching the VAT target in the two months left,”said sources quoting the NBR chief. The meeting directed that deputy commissioner and joint commissioner of every VAT Commissionarate to monitor the progress of revenue collectionfrom these five sectors and keep the NBR updated every week trough mobile SMS.

Sources from the meeting said the NBR chairman also asked officials concerned to collect the due revenue from different government agencies and to resolve ongoing disputes between NBR and taxpayers. To this end, the revenue board targeted local trade for collecting more VAT, and planned to verify the traders’ sales in large markets, especially in the period of Eid shopping.

On the floor space, the NBR asked all commissioners concerned to ensure taxes from house owners, who rent their spaces for apartments, offices or markets.
Besides, NBR instructed all officials to collect more VAT from brick kiln and bidi industries through strengthening monitoring. How the shortfall occured
Explaining reasons behind the shortfall, NBR member (VAT implementation and IT) ShahnajParveen told the Bangladesh Post: “The government lost TK2,870crore by exempting supplementary duty (SD) on LNG.”

“Besides, Tk1,795crore shortfall was created as outstanding revenue collection this year was lower compared to the previous year. Moreover VAT reduction to 5% from 15% on mobile internet brought about Tk520crore shortfall.” She said lower cigarette supply than the previous year cut down the VAT earning by at least Tk2,449crore.

Shahnaj believes the government’s exemptions and the poor collection of outstanding balancealso contributed to the shortfall. “If we could earn even the mentioned money, the shortfall would be half and we may attain 23.43% year-on-year growth,” she hoped.