The National Board of Revenue (NBR) would start holding pre-budget discussions for the fiscal 2014-15 at the beginning of March.
They have already started inviting opinions and proposals from the stakeholders as part of the preparation, which they usually start from March.
“We are taking preparation for the meetings from January to make the budget participatory and business-friendly as well as revenue-friendly,” said a senior official at the revenue body.
The Value Added Tax and Customs wing also served notices to their field offices asking their experiences or problems they might face while dealing with the revenue collection within February 27. The income tax wing will soon serve letters to the field offices.
Letters were also served to the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) and some other trade bodies, inviting proposals for the revenue budget for the next fiscal year.
To simplify the process, NBR would soon appoint a chief budget coordinator to deal with the stakeholders, said the official.
Usually, the trade bodies and business organisations forward their proposals to the apex trade body, which submits the proposals to the revenue authorities in a compiled form.
The organisations having no affiliation with any chamber or association will directly submit their proposals to the chief budget coordinator of NBR.
After appointment of chief budget coordinator, the NBR will ask the stakeholders to directly submit their proposals in pre-budget meetings which will be held round the month at the NBR headquarters.
Meanwhile, FBCCI Director Abdul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune that the federation chamber has already instructed all its member bodies, affiliated chambers and associations to send their respective proposals by the end of this month.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
