H1 tax revenue up 14.22%, but govt likely to miss yearly target again
Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), says the tax revenue deficit will most likely be about Tk30,000 crore this year, based on the current trend
Bigstock
Tribune Report
Publish : 10 Jan 2022, 08:34 PMUpdate : 11 Jan 2022, 10:42 AM
Bangladesh has seen a year-on-year tax revenue collection growth of 14.22% in the first six months of the current fiscal year.
However, the amount is Tk17,081 crore short of the target for the first half (H1).
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) achieved 88.08% of its target or Tk126,000 crore in the July-December period of FY22, largely in part due to significant growth in import-stage revenues.
NBR’s customs wing achieved 19.5% growth over the corresponding period last year followed by income tax at 15%.
Value added tax (VAT) collection saw a 9.54%, according to provisional data — the revenue board collected Tk46,585 crore VAT, Tk39,421 crore income tax and Tk40,202 crore import and export duty in H1.
But the customs wing faced a Tk7,095 crore shortfall against its target followed by the VAT wing at Tk5,894 crore and income tax at Tk4,091 crore shortfall.
The government has set a Tk330,000 crore revenue collection target for NBR in FY22, which was Tk143,000 crore for H1.
The NBR achieved 7.39% and 6.39% growth in revenue collection in H1 periods for the last two years, respectively.
Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), says the tax revenue deficit will most likely be about Tk30,000 crore this year, based on the current trend.
“Tax to GDP ratio in Bangladesh should be 18-20%, but it is still stuck at 7.7%; and it won’t grow much this year either,” he added.
This forces the government to look to other sources or loans to fund development goals, economist further said.
Explaining why NBR keeps failing to meet its revenue targets so often, and hence the low tax to GDP ratio, Mansur said this is because of two reasons — one is an ancient law and infrastructure worsened by the lack of digitisation.
Another is setting unrealistic goals for the revenue board, he added.
H1 tax revenue up 14.22%, but govt likely to miss yearly target again
Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), says the tax revenue deficit will most likely be about Tk30,000 crore this year, based on the current trend
Bangladesh has seen a year-on-year tax revenue collection growth of 14.22% in the first six months of the current fiscal year.
However, the amount is Tk17,081 crore short of the target for the first half (H1).
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) achieved 88.08% of its target or Tk126,000 crore in the July-December period of FY22, largely in part due to significant growth in import-stage revenues.
NBR’s customs wing achieved 19.5% growth over the corresponding period last year followed by income tax at 15%.
Value added tax (VAT) collection saw a 9.54%, according to provisional data — the revenue board collected Tk46,585 crore VAT, Tk39,421 crore income tax and Tk40,202 crore import and export duty in H1.
But the customs wing faced a Tk7,095 crore shortfall against its target followed by the VAT wing at Tk5,894 crore and income tax at Tk4,091 crore shortfall.
The government has set a Tk330,000 crore revenue collection target for NBR in FY22, which was Tk143,000 crore for H1.
The NBR achieved 7.39% and 6.39% growth in revenue collection in H1 periods for the last two years, respectively.
Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), says the tax revenue deficit will most likely be about Tk30,000 crore this year, based on the current trend.
“Tax to GDP ratio in Bangladesh should be 18-20%, but it is still stuck at 7.7%; and it won’t grow much this year either,” he added.
This forces the government to look to other sources or loans to fund development goals, economist further said.
Explaining why NBR keeps failing to meet its revenue targets so often, and hence the low tax to GDP ratio, Mansur said this is because of two reasons — one is an ancient law and infrastructure worsened by the lack of digitisation.
Another is setting unrealistic goals for the revenue board, he added.
Topics: