NBR expects VAT growth to hit 30%

VAT collection recorded 23 per cent year-on-year growth in October and could reach 30 per cent as thousands of payment challans are being entered into the system, National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Ahsan Habib said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, income tax collection rose 14 per cent while customs revenue increased 16 per cent, he said, describing the overall revenue trend as encouraging. He made the remarks at a reception programme for the 45th batch of income tax cadre officers at the NBR headquarters in Dhaka's Agargaon.

VAT collection growth stood at minus 6.6 per cent during the July–October period, largely due to a shift from monthly to quarterly return submissions. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the NBR fell Tk 41,879 crore short of its target as total revenue collection grew by less than 2 per cent year-on-year.

The revenue authority earlier extended the initial 15 October deadline for submitting the three-month returns to 25 October. The NBR Chairman said entering hundreds of thousands of resulting challans into the system was under way and would yield results within 15 days. This would restore VAT collection to healthy double-digit growth.

Urging the newly appointed officials to prioritise honest and sincere tax collection, he said their journey begins with a tax return and ends with an e-challan. 

Bangladesh Civil Service (Taxation) Association General Secretary Syed Mohidul Hasan also urged the officers to uphold integrity, learn from seniors, protect taxpayers' rights and provide courteous, transparent services at the event chaired by Vice-President Kobir Uddin Mollah.

Source: The Daily Star