Fiscal policy for FY ‘24 may finalise today
Al Amin :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is going to finalise the country’s fiscal policy focusing on attracting more investment and collecting more revenue in line with the realizing the additional tax collection pressure.
Finalizing the policy, the NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem will hold meeting with the Prime Minister at Ganabhaban in the city on Sunday.
The board will to collect revenue worth Tk 4.30 lakh crore in the next fiscal year, which is Tk 60,000 crore higher than the current year.
Ahsan H Mansoor, Executive Director of the private research institute Policy Research Institute (PRI), told The New Nation, “With the current tax administration, it will be impossible to collect Tk 4.30 lakh crore in the next fiscal year.”
“Achieving such huge target, the government should have been taken initiative to reform the tax administration from earlier,” he added.
Among the changes in the policy, tax-free individual income limit is likely to be increased by Tk 30,000 to Tk 50,000 from the existing amount Tk 3 lakh considering the present inflation rate in the country, although the economists are saying that it is not sufficient.
The existing corporate tax rate is unlikely to be changed. In fact, the rate may increase in some cases, especially for the readymade garment exporters, NBR officials said.
They also said tax exemptions that were given in different sectors to facilitate the domestic industries would be revisited in the next fiscal year due to pressure raised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Some of the tax exemptions may be withdrawn and some other might be rationalised this fiscal year.
Besides, the existing facility given to bring back laundered money to the country may be withdrawn in the next budget as no one took the advantage so far, the officials said.
As part of the initiatives of increasing tax net, the NBR is going to add more five sectors to get government services. Currently, tax return submission is mandatory to get 38 types of government service, they added.
Moreover, NBR is likely to increase surcharge rate, impose carbon tax on second car and to withdraw the existing 15 per tax rebate on investing secondary markets in next budget, the officials said.
Dr Abdur Razzaque, Chairman of RAPID, told The New Nation, “People are struggling to face the current inflation. So, increase in individual tax-free income limit worth Tk 30,000 is not sufficient.”
He also said the government is controlling imports to save the country’s foreign currency reserves and it may continue for more months. As a result, revenue earnings from imports will not come from the sector at expected level.
“So, the revenue board will have to emphasize on Tax and Value-Added Tax (VAT) to meet the additional revenue collection target and no alternative to increase tax and VAT nets and enforcement,” he added.
