The fact that over 400,000 people have submitted their tax filings online as of December 31, 2023 is certainly a positive development when it comes to the overall goal of widening our tax net as the figure recorded is significantly higher than the previous number of taxpayers from the same period of the preceding year.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) estimates that the number of online returns is set to cross 600,000 this fiscal year. It appears the NBR’s recent efforts to simplify for submitting tax returns through the internet is paying dividends, as an arcane and opaque system has been one of the key hindrances keeping our tax net from being as wide as it could be.
However, more needs to be done. The tax code of Bangladesh is still difficult to decipher, and adding to our online functionalities to make the system even more intuitive and automated is sure to bring more people into the fold. But our tax culture is still in desperate need of reform, as fiscal transparency is still the biggest issue when it comes to restoring public faith into the tax system.
The government needs to be a lot more direct in letting the public know how their hard earned money is being spent while warding off the tentacles of misappropriation as well. Furthermore, loopholes that allow the wealthiest among us to evade taxes need to be closed.
Taxes are incredibly important when it comes to the long-term development of any nation, and given Bangladesh’s ambitious economic goals it behooves the government to focus on removing the bottlenecks keeping people from placing their trust on the system itself. There is no scope for negligence here.
