Given the archaic systems and unchecked bureaucracy plaguing our tax and revenue collection systems, it is no wonder that Bangladesh's external debts are piling up high -- seeing how the swift and efficient mobilization of domestic resources is key to offsetting the weight of external debt.
According to the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh, our country's external debts more than doubled between FY15 and FY22, and this can primarily be chalked up to our broken revenue collection systems.
Taxation and revenue collection are complicated procedures everywhere, but in Bangladesh such processes have innumerable barriers in the way which deter people from paying their taxes, not to mention the culture of bribery that is pervasive in the lower levels of our administration.
There is also a lack of transparency and accountability when it comes to the usage of government revenue -- something that has prompted a huge number of people in the country to avoid paying taxes leading to high levels of tax evasion. To that end, we agree with the PRI's recommendation that the National Board of Revenue needs to provide easy and seamless services to tax-payers to get them onboard.
However, it is clear that there is a certain lack of reason prevailing our tax policies at the moment, with unfounded and untimely rules such as the recently announced pet tax being levied by the Dhaka South City Corporation.
If we wish to reap the benefits of a wide tax net, policy-makers will have to invest in creating a supportive ecosystem that will make revenue collection more automated, making it more efficient in the process.
