Tax collection in this year’s Income Tax Fair in Chittagong, which started on September 16 and ended yesterday, has broken all previous records since the inception of the fair in 2010, according to Chittagong Tax Department.
This year, around Tk353 crore was collected as tax, Tk 77 crore more than last year’s collection and 8.83 times the collection in 2010, when the annual event started, aiming to inspire taxpayers in paying their taxes, said Md Masud Rana, deputy commissioner of Chittagong Tax Zone 3 and convener of the Information Management Sub-committee at the fair.
According to Chittagong Tax Department, around Tk40 crore was collected at the fair in 2010, Tk91 crore in 2011, Tk126 crore in 2012, and Tk276 crore in 2013, indicating the growth rate of taxpayers in the port city.
The fair is getting alot response from the taxpayers due to its publicity as well as easy and quick service, the tax deputy commissioner told the Dhaka Tribune.
Hoping to reach the tax collection target of Tk7,800 crore within the current fiscal year from Chittagong Tax Regions, the fair housed 50 booths of 88 tax circles under the four tax zones of Chittagong Tax Department on the Sarak Bhaban premises in the city’s Agrabad area.
Rashed Reza, assistant commissioner at Chittagong Tax Department and an official of the fair’s media centre, said a record number of taxpayers visited the fair this year, with a total 218,513 people availing different facilities.
“A total of 12,585 taxpayers submitted their income tax returns this year, while 998 people registered for an e-TIN and 320 re-registered for an e-TIN,” he said.
While the fair did not have a specific target set for tax collection, the organisers expressed satisfaction with the increasing number of taxpayers and visitors as well as their willingness to pay taxes.
Md Dabir Uddin, commissioner of Chittagong Tax Zone 1 and convener of Chittagong Income Tax Fair 2014, said they were happy with the fair collection this year and the number of visitors was also remarkable.
“The fair’s target is not only to collect taxes but to also raise awareness among the taxpayers and provide service to them,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Md Hasanur Rahman, assistant commissioner at Chittagong Tax Department, said the fair offered all sorts of services at a glance, which attracted visitors to pay their taxes at the fair than any other time of the year.
Visitors said they were able to get tax-related services within 20-30 minutes in the fair, whereas they would have to go to different offices for the same services, which would take more time.