Twenty nine of 31 income tax zones have failed to meet the income tax collection target for December due to political turmoil.
National Board of Revenue (NBR) officials said the body was able collect income tax of Tk2,888 crore against the target of Tk3,985 crore in the month.
Only zone 4 and Mymensingh zone achieved their respective targets at par.
NBR also missed the target set for the first half of current fiscal year which will end on June 30.
The July-December period data showed the collection stood at Tk15,634 crore, which was 18% short of the target at Tk19,067 crore.
During the period, only three zones had been able to reach their respective targets.
NBR aims to collect Tk48,300 crore from income tax in the current fiscal.
The revenue authorities’ Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU), which is responsible for collecting the tax from the big taxpayers, also failed as the business was hit by the unrest.
LTU, contributor of around one fourth of the total collection, witnessed Tk1,291 crore deficit compared to the target, said NBR officials.
They said many of the businesses were off due to shutdowns and blockades. The unrest hampered exports and imports largely.
“The prolonged political turmoil badly affected smooth functioning of business and revenue collection,” said Md Dobir Uddin, commissioner of taxes at Chittagong 1 zone.
He said the Chittagong taxpayers are usually regular in paying taxes if business runs uninterrupted.
“As they could not do business during the unrest period, collection of tax was poor,” he added.
He expected the tax collection situation to improve soon since business is running smoothly now.
The December data showed the Large Taxpayers Unit collected Tk900 crore, the Chittagong income tax zone 1 Tk130 crore, Khulna Tk35 crore, Rajshahi Tk12 crore, Rangpur Tk23.12 crore, Barishal Tk10 crore, Sylhet Tk20 crore, Narayanganj Tk15.2 crore, Gazipur Tk25 crore, Comilla Tk15 crore and Bogra Tk9.05 crore.