Revenue from travel tax for fiscal year 2020-21 came down to Tk336 crore, Tk714 crore short of the Tk1,050 crore target.
In other words, only 32% of the target was achieved.
This drastic shortfall can be attributed to the lack of both domestic and international travel due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
In fiscal year 2019-20, Tk931 crore was deposited in the state coffers from travel tax. The Tk336 crore was a 64% decrease in revenue collection, compared to the previous fiscal.
Meanwhile, the government announced it will reopen all tourist and entertainment centres in the country from August 19 after being closed for four months.
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Mukim Khan, general secretary of Cox's Bazar Kalatali-Marine Drive Hotel-Resort Owners' Association, told the media that the opening of tourist spots at the world's longest beach would restore the financial strength of the tourism sector in the district.
And if the traders make a profit, the money will also be deposited in the government treasury, he also said.
Very few international flights have operated from Bangladesh during the last fiscal year due to the Covid-19 situation.
Talking to the sector's stakeholders, it has been learned that the number of international passengers has decreased by 75% compared to the previous fiscal.
Many countries have also imposed travel bans because of Covid-19. For several months, Middle Eastern airlines would only bring in passengers from abroad, and leave without any passengers from Dhaka.
Due to these reasons, the travel tax has also come down, they said.
According to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), one has to pay tax while traveling by land and air, which is Tk500 for land passengers and Tk800 for Saarc countries by air.
Travel to other countries carries Tk1,800 as travel tax per person.
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This tax is included with the airfare. In the case of passengers between the ages of 5 and 12, the travel tax is half.
In addition, the travel tax per passenger by sea is Tk800.
However, passengers under the age of five, cancer patients, blind people, Bangladeshi and foreign diplomats and their families, pilots and crew of the aircraft do not have to pay travel tax.
Most tourists from Bangladesh go to India by land. But since the start of Covid-19, India has not offered tourist visas yet.
As a result, there was not much travel by Bangladeshi tourists. There is only a limited range of travellers on medical and official visas. As a result, not much travel tax was collected from this avenue.