NBR initiates to widen tax net

Staff Reporter :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has taken an initiative to exchange information with the Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) to bring taxable individuals and organisations under the tax net.
To this end, the NBR signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the DPDC at the NBR office on Thursday.
Addressing the event, NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem said, the deal will make it easier to identify new taxpayers as well as expand the tax net.
Md Habibur Rahman, Secretary of the Power Division, said it is an appropriate time for the two organisations to work together.
The revenue board has struck three agreements to trace errant landlords and car owners as part of efforts to widen the tax net.
The deals on Application Programming Interface (API) were signed with Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (DESCO), and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).
In a bid to attract investment in the country, expatriate Bangladeshis have been given the opportunity to include their overseas money and assets in the income tax return without question by paying a 7.15 per cent tax, Muneem said.
Many countries have reaped the benefits of providing an avenue for their expatriates to “invest in the country” and Bangladesh is looking to do the same, he added.
“The overseas banks’ interest rate is lower, so we think our expatriates will take the opportunity,” the NBR chairman said.
He admitted some of the inflowing money could be illegal but added the opportunity is solely for “expatriates’ investments, not money laundering.”
The NBR chief said the move to expand the tax net was to achieve the target of collecting Tk 3.7 trillion in revenues in the current fiscal year (2022-23).
To encourage tax return filings, authorities annulled fines to allow citizens to submit their returns at any time of the financial year.
He spoke about developing the economy, promoting youth entrepreneurship, raising foreign exchange reserves, and diversifying exports through tax exemptions and other avenues.