Every year, people throng to the income tax fair.
Just this year, around 36,853 new tax-payers got themselves registered in the tax fair. Some 195,000 tax-payers paid around Tk213,000bn in income tax. Apparently, a feel-good factor comes into play on such occasions. However, have we ever wondered if our money is ending up in good hands?
Bangladesh’s tax-GDP ratio was 8.6% during the period of 2006-2008. During the same period, on average, $5bn was laundered abroad every year from Bangladesh. According to the Global Financial Integrity report, around $9bn capital flight took place in 2013. Bad debts are piling up in banks due to the flawed decisions being taken by partisan management boards.
Do we see an improvement in the law and order situation? Do we get better health services? Are our hospitals well-equipped? Do we have quality roads, bridges, and public office buildings? Is there an increase in the education subsidy? Is our infrastructure good enough to attract domestic and foreign investment?
Have we invested enough in political and constitutional institutions to ensure checks and balances, and to protect our democratic rights? Does the private sector reap as much benefit as anticipated from the implementation of big infrastructure projects?
In terms of economic management, this government is guilty of dereliction of duty. Public confidence in the government has shattered, as one financial scam after another has hit the country. The last one -- the alleged hacking of Bangladesh Bank’s foreign reserve fund -- put the finance minister and senior party leaders at odds with the central bank’s governor, and ended up in the resignation of the latter. Rampant corruption and plundering of public and specialised banks only filled party-men’s pockets. Consequently, people’s confidence in the ruling party has dwindled.
But the finance minister’s comedy show continues. Recently, at an event on remittance, he expressed his desires to borrow money from the central bank’s Forex reserve to finance mega projects. The remark caused an outpouring of concern among some professionals, as the minister, to whom the public bank’s stolen Tk80,000 lakh is just peanuts, took the financial scam lightly.
To me, the idea of borrowing from the Forex reserve is a blatant mockery in the wake of the dilapidated condition of the financial institutions. And only a financial minister who has never taken the moral responsibility for any scam can make such a heartless and senseless remark about the people’s hard-earned money.
Does such a bad manager of the economy have any right to impose taxes on us? Though the present government is technically fit to run the country, a good number of voters did not vote in the 2014 general election, boycotted by the BNP alliance. In that light, it has lost moral high ground to implement any of its policies.
The flawed political course of action taken by the BNP alliance gave the present government an excuse to swell the number of political prisoners in overcrowded prisons, further undermining its organisational capacity. The government has taken an authoritarian stance and pursued anti-public economic policies, no holds barred.
People do not want to see their views and opinions getting crushed under authoritarian boots. They want to see government policies reflect their wishes
Utility fees were raised on several occasions, while the oil price was at an all-time low. People were not happy.
Ignoring the parliament and without taking prior consent of the people’s representatives, this kind of move only increases resentment. Individuals who are not on the same page can say: “Hey, you did not care about my opinion, why should I pay taxes at your whim?”
As soon as public resentment reaches new heights, it may turn into a government-changing movement. The introduction of the Magna Carta is a good example. The elites under the king forced him to revoke some of his privileges and to accept the Magna Carta, which laid down that the king must consult them before raising taxes or imposing new ones.
In Bangladesh, we have already witnessed a few spontaneous protests by different professional groups, despite the compromised state of the main opposition. Primary school teachers took to the streets and had skirmishes with the police. Public university teachers waged an abortive movement over the pay hike. And private university students quite successfully made the government rescind its decision to impose VAT on university fees.
Protests staged by professional groups should come as a warning to all across the party hierarchy.
People do not want to see their views and opinions getting crushed under authoritarian boots. They want to see government policies reflect their wishes, not just be guided by whimsical policies that they did not ask for. In functional democracies, rival political parties compete for people’s trust and formulate policies based on people’s desires.
Unfortunately, bitter rivalries between two leading parties hampered the proper functioning of democracy. We are left with no choice but to accept the status quo -- a parliament where half the MPs are uncontested.
The imposition of raising VAT and tax is an important matter, and demands the consent of the people’s representatives. Just slapping them on people like medieval rulers is like trampling on people’s wishes.
The government should refrain from emptying people’s pockets by levying unjust and unreasonable VAT and duties. As long as the government does not change its decision, people have every right to say: “Get your hands out of my pocket. Why should I pay for your mismanagement?”
Rezaul Hoque is a researcher.
