Tax return submission deadline won’t be extended: NBR chairman
Revenue collection increased by 1.14%
National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem said the income tax return filing deadline will not be extended further after 30 November.
"Taxpayers have a legal obligation to file their tax returns by this period," the NBR chairman said while replying to a query of reporters at the Revenue Building in the capital's Segunbagicha on Thursday.
"If someone fails to submit the return within 30 days, they can do so following a legal procedure [with a fine]," Abu Hena added.
In the past, an income tax fair was organised, but it is not going to be held this time owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Every income tax zone has made tax fair-type arrangements at field offices across the country so that taxpayers can file their tax returns and receive certificates, he said.
The NBR chief further said, "Instead of arranging a fair, all kinds of services are being provided in the income tax offices this time."
Besides, Abu Hena said the country's revenue collection in July-October has increased to 1.14% compared to that in the corresponding period a year ago.
"However, the collection has been less than the target of about Tk20,500 crore," said the NBR chairman.
Against the Tk87,000 crore target, Tk66,555 crore revenue has been collected in the last four months, he added.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the manpower crisis of the NBR and the failure of automation, Abu Hena said, "The reliance on third-party organisations in the name of automation has increased. Now, we prefer buying equipment to building our own efficient manpower."
Previously, the NBR somewhat overstepped in adopting automation projects and hurriedly purchased software and hardware without considering the strength of its manpower to handle the automation activities, he said adding that previous automation initiatives did not become successful to that extent.
"The process has just increased the dependency on foreign suppliers due to a lack of trained manpower," he said.
The revenue board is now planning to redesign its IT section with trained manpower both from IT section and tax administration, he added.
Hopefully, taxpayers from the tax zone-6 in Dhaka will be able to file tax returns online from Sunday while taxpayers from across the country will get the scope from next year, he added.
Regarding installation of electronic fiscal devices (EFDs) at shops, Muneem said the pilot project for the installation of EFDs at 100 shops in Dhaka and Chattogram became successful.
The NBR has already installed EFDs at 824 shops in two cities and a total of 1,000 EFDs, including the 824 EFDs, at shops will be activated from December after providing trainings to shopkeepers and officials, he said.
In the second phase, the revenue board will install the devices at another 10,000 shops across the country, he added.
Senior NBR officials were present at the press confere