Tax fair begins tomorrow with mobile banking payment feature
The NBR expects return submissions to rise to around 30 lakh this year
The week-long income tax and motivation fair will begin across the country tomorrow. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is organising the event at the Officers Club Dhaka.
The revenue board is going to introduce mobile payment this year, promoting the e-payment method. It will enable the taxpayers to pay through popular payment platforms – Rocket, Upay, bKash, Nagad and SureCash.
Besides, NBR officials will provide one-stop tax-related services to ensure a hassle-free atmosphere for the taxpayers submitting their tax returns.
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At a press conference yesterday, revenue board Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the board emphasises the submission of income tax returns as the prime source of revenue generation.
"That is why we have a plan to bring 1 crore people under the tax net by 2021," he added.
The NBR is expecting return submissions to rise to around 30 lakh this year. The NBR chairman explained the target, saying the current number of electronic tax identification number (e-TIN) holders exceeds 40 lakh. The total number of tax return submissions has also exceeded 22 lakh.
The week-long fair will be held at the divisional headquarters, while as many as 56 districts will observe a four-day-long revenue collection event. A total of 32 upazilas will hold two-day-long collection while taxpayers in 70 upazilas will be able to submit their returns at the day-long programme during November 14-22.
The NBR has set November 30 as the last day for submitting income tax return for individual taxpayers.
Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said, "We have set the target to serve a total of 20 lakh taxpayers during the fair across Bangladesh with a collection of Tk3,000 crore from the individual level.
"Harshly collecting tax is not effective. We have to collect revenue in a way that economic activities, investments and living do not get affected."
The NBR chairman added that the fair will help raise awareness about tax and taxpayers' responsibilities.
According to revenue board data, a total of Tk2,468 crore was collected at the week-long fair last year. The amount was Tk113 crore in 2010 – the year the fair was first held. The number of tax returns submitted at the fair was 487,000 in 2018, whereas it was 52,544 in 2010.
