The Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday hinted at imposing “user tax” on the people who would avail different government facilities as a possible measure to boost revenue collection.
He said the government had been emphasising on reducing customs duty to help local industries expand in the world market and strengthen the local market.
“We will probably not observe any such day like the international customs day; rather we will discover a new source of tax in the future, to be called ‘user tax.’ People, who avail different facilities, will have to pay such taxes,” he said.
The finance minister said such taxation was already in place in a number of sectors including water services and education, but the system needed improvement.
The minister was addressing a programme organised by the National Board of Revenue to mark the International Customs Day 2014. A total of 179 countries, affiliated with World Customs Organisation (WCO), observed the day with the slogan “Communication: Sharing Information for Better Cooperation.”
Muhith also said the country had witnessed a record revenue collection during the last five years.
“Since 1980, no government has witnessed such record collection as we did in the last five years. Earlier, a major part of the revenue used to be generated from the customs. That has come down significantly and continue to do so in the coming days,” he said.
Regarding modernising the Customs Act 1969, the minister said public opinion would be sought and the draft would not be turned into an act without discussion with stakeholders.
Emphasising on enhancing public relations and communication with the mass, he said: “We will look to minimising the difficulties that the taxpayers face and be more bent on effectively using technologies.”
At the programme, various stakeholders proposed including a private sector representative, along with two NBR officials, at the courts to make sure that there was no disparity.
They said Bangladesh did not have risk management tools of international standards. That must be introduced to ensure transparency and for achieving revenue targets.
The NBR honoured 17 of its officials, including two posthumously, and five others from different offices for their contribution in realising duties.