Snail pace in revenue collection hits economy

Golam Mostafa Jibon: Snail pace in revenue collection has now caused of a key reason behind the catastrophe in the country’s economy, experts said.
They said, the economy is already strained due to various reasons. On top of that, there has been a slowdown in revenue collection, the main source of government income. Meanwhile, export income and remittances have decreased in which the amount of reserves has started reducing alarmingly. Along with this, the extreme gas and electricity crisis is prevailing in the industrial sector. The overall crisis in the economy has had a negative impact on revenue collection. The organization has still remained behind the collection of Tk 4,074.39 crore in the first three months (July-September) of the current financial year (2022-23) during the journey towards the big target of revenue collection. However, the growth in the same period last year was 15.65 percent, said the sources of National Board of Revenue (NBR).
Sources also said, NBR has collected Tk 67,104.45 crore in revenue till September. But, there was a target of revenue collection at Tk 71,178.84 crore. That is, there is a deficit of Tk 4,074.39 crore. Out of this, the revenue collected in the month of September was Tk 26,833.93 crore. Tk 24,922.67 crore was collected in the same month of the previous financial year. The growth in revenue collection was 7.67 percent, said a reliable source of NBR.
The organization took a seven-point plan to increase the amount of customs and taxes collected from the domestic sector. However, stakeholders feel that, the positive impact of major changes in the implementation of the plan has not yet been seen in revenue collection.
According to NBR statistics department, value added tax (Musak) or VAT has been collected the most in the first three months of the current financial year. In this sector Tk 24,546.65 crore is collected. The deficit is Tk 95.34 crore. Tk 22,454.94 crore was collected at import and export sector. The deficit in this sector is Tk 2,588.91 crore.
On the other hand, Tk 20,102.86 crore came to the income tax sector in the first three months. NBR has remained behind Tk 1,390.14 crore compared to the target in this sector. However, compared to September of the last financial year, the growth in the same month of this year has been achieved by 15.65 percent. The revenue collection in September last year was Tk 58,23.51 crore. In the current year, which stands at Tk 67,104.45 crore. Earlier, in the first two months (July-August), the income tax, VAT and customs sector collected Tk 40,270.56 crore with a growth of 21.13 percent, where the target was Tk 43,590 crore. The deficit was Tk 3,319.44 crore.
In the current fiscal year (July-June), NBR’s revenue collection target was set at Tk 3,70,000 crore. In the last fiscal year 2021-2022, there was a growth of 16.07 percent, but the deficit at the end of the year stood at Tk 28,000 crore. The target was Tk 3,30,000 crore.
Return of Tk 3,33,000 submitted in three months:
Meanwhile, income tax return filing has exceeded 3 lakh in the first three months of the current financial year. According to data available from the National Board of Revenue (NBR), 333,000 taxpayers have submitted income tax returns so far. Whereas at the same time, taxpayers submitted 1 lakh income tax returns in the last financial year. And in the last financial year 2021-22, about 24 lakh taxpayers filed income tax returns. NBR officials estimate that, the number of return filings may cross 4 million in the current financial year 2022-23. Currently the number of e-TINs registered is around 79 lakh.
A senior official of NBR said, “The NBR has been struggling for a long time to increase the number of income tax return submissions through various strategies and legal reforms. While the number of Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) holders has reached 76 lakh, returns filed till last fiscal year were around 24 lakh. This year, filing of return is not only mandatory for 40 types of services, but proof of filing of income tax return is also made mandatory. Its results have started to come. Generally if the income of an individual-taxpayer is more than Tk 3 lakh per annum; persons of third gender, women and 65 years of age or above, if the income of the taxpayer is more than Tk 3.5 lakh per annum, gazetted wounded freedom fighter if the income of the taxpayer is more than Tk 4.75 lakh and if the income of the disabled taxpayer is more than Tk 4.50 lakh per annum. Filing of their returns is mandatory. Apart from this, there are many other reasons that make it mandatory for a person to submission of a return. It is not enough to file returns from the current financial year only. In order to get government services, proof of return submission must also be shown.