Revenue collection in the first quarter (July-September) of fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23) was 92.25% of the Tk71,256 crore target set for the National Board of Revenue (NBR) during the period.
According to provisional data of the revenue regulator, they collected Tk65,737 crore in the forms of income tax, value added tax (VAT) and customs tariffs in the first quarter of FY23.
Revenue collection growth also dropped to 12.63% in the same quarter, much lower than the 21% growth recorded in the first two months of FY23.
Revenue collection had previously gone up by 16.75% to Tk58,368 crore during the same period in the previous FY22.
Data analysis revealed that VAT receipts saw poor growth, indicating a decline in the purchasing power of people amid the high costs of commodities.
The collection of VAT, the biggest source of revenue for the government, was up 10.06% to Tk23,215 crore, against Tk21,094 crore in the previous year.
Receipts from customs tariffs grew the highest 16.44% to Tk22,433 crore.
This was Tk19,266 crore in the same period of FY22.
Higher growth was largely caused by the escalated costs of commodities in the global markets and the sharp depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
Income tax collection rose 11.55% to Tk20,087 crore in the July-September quarter, up from Tk18,007 crore in FY22.
Requesting anonymity, a senior official of the NBR said: “I think slow growth could be a seasonal effect caused by the lean economic activity in September. VAT collection in September would be higher than the provisional level as businesses file related returns by the 15th of the subsequent month.”
Hopeful, he also said that they will get the actual picture regarding the VAT collection by the end of October.
Similarly, the collection from income tax will also increase. So, the overall collection will be higher than the preliminary receipts, he also said.
The pace of collection from import tariffs did not increase much as most of the items that were imported had either zero or concessional import duty, the official added.
However, the collection target for the NBR has been set at Tk370,000 crore for FY23, which is 12.12% more than Tk300,000 crore generated in FY22.