National Board of Revenue will take “tough stance” against those who fail to submit income tax returns within the scheduled time of December 1, said a high official.
NBR member Md Bashir Uddin Ahmed said if any taxpayer fails to register with E-TIN by the end of December will also face action such as penalty.
Another official said those failing to submit returns within the deadline of December 1 will be served show cause notices after the deadline expires.
“We will take tough stance and strict measures including the imposition of penalties.”
In the fiscal year 2012-13, the NBR imposed around Tk95m as penalty against 18,500 who evaded taxes.
Of the amount, the revenue body realised Tk10.5m only, showed data.
Deadline of return submission has been extended twice for individual taxpayers.
According to another NBR official, the submitted returns will be reviewed soon after the deadline and action will be taken against those failing to register with E-TIN by the end of December.
“Of a total of 1.7m TIN holders, only 725,000 have registered with E-TIN so far,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
“NBR will collect information from Election Commission website after December 31 and take strict measures against those without E-TIN holders but having incomes.”
The official said the tax evaders will be brought under E-TIN but have to face a penalty of Tk10,000-Tk50,000.
NBR on July 1 introduced E-TIN system to boost revenue collection, reduce hassles and prevent issuance of fake TINs.
Under the system, NBR has now an automated database for TIN holders where existing and new TIN holders will have to register with the E-TIN within December 31.
With this process, the existing 10-digit TINs will be replaced with 12-digit ones.
For the FY2013-14, the revenue body set a target to collect Tk1.361tn revenue from income tax as the introduction of E-TIN is expected to help it meet the target.
According to the Income-tax Ordinance 1984, the NBR can fine Tk1,000 penalty at a time plus Tk50 per day if any TIN holder fails to submit tax return within the deadline.
However, the ordinance also allows taxpayers to seek extension of time and maintain the system.
Another official hoped: “The full implementation of automation system will improve the situation of tax collection.”
He also said there is a notion among many people that if one holds TIN certificates, he or she will have to pay taxes.
“This is due to information gap. Only those who have taxable income will pay tax.”
“TINs without taxable incomes are marked with ‘nil’, but submission of returns is mandatory,” the official added.