Tax receipts by the National Board of Revenue fell short of target by Tk 3,355 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2017-2018 though the collection registered a healthy growth in the period compared with the same period of last FY.
According to official data of the revenue board, tax officials managed to collect Tk 43,745 crore in July-September of the year against the target of Tk 47,100 crore set for the months.
Overall revenue collection grew by more than 20 per cent in the first three months of the fiscal year compared with that of the same period of last FY 2015-2016 when revenue collection was Tk 36,436 crore, according to the data.
Officials of the revenue board said that though the revenue collection witnessed a healthy and satisfactory growth, it was not enough to achieve the target of Tk 2,48,190 crore with 34 per cent growth set for the entire fiscal year.
They said that the government set an ambitious target for the NBR without considering the historical trends and economic health of the country.
They, however, said that the revenue board would continue to put all efforts including enhancing monitoring, inspection, expediting intelligence activities, resolving disputes and collecting outstanding dues to achieve the target.
The target may also be slashed significantly, particularly for the VAT wing by the end of the year, they said, adding that the target for VAT was set at higher amount in line with the new VAT law, the implementation of which has been deferred for two years.
Revenue earnings on an average grew by 14.28 per cent in the last five years with the highest growth at 18.96 per cent in the last FY 2017.
According to the NBR data, income tax collection faced shortfall of the highest amount at Tk 1,333 crore in July-September followed by customs with Tk 1,119 crore and value-added tax with Tk 902 crore.
Income tax, customs and VAT collection grew by 18.66 per cent, 22.68 per cent and 19.19 per cent respectively in the period.
Field offices of the NBR collected Tk 16,746 crore in VAT, Tk 14,025 crore in customs duty and Tk 12,975 crore in income tax in July-September against the target of Tk 17,647 crore, Tk15,144 crore and Tk 14,308 crore respectively.
A high official of the NBR told New Age that revenue collection usually remained comparatively slow in the first few months of the fiscal year and expedited in later half of the year.
Economic activities particularly implementation of the annual development programme remain lower in the months which put effect on revenue collection, he said.
The pace of tax collection will gradually increase in coming months, he said.
The NBR has already instructed its field offices to use all possible alternatives to achieve the target, he added.
The revenue board will have to collect the highest Tk 91,000 crore in VAT, Tk 87,190 crore in income tax and Tk 70,000 crore in customs duty in the current fiscal year.
NBR collected Tk 1,85,004 crore in the last fiscal year.
Source: News Age
