Kitchen mkt tax sparks public concern

Public concerns over bringing grocery shops and kitchen markets under the tax net, saying the government must ensure that ordinary people are not placed under additional pressure while expanding the country’s tax base, State Minister for Planning Md Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki acknowledged.

“We must undoubtedly express concern over this issue. People have to be given relief,” he said while taking part in the general discussion on the proposed national budget for fiscal year 2026-27 in parliament.

Saki said the government had expanded the tax net on a rational basis and that taxes would initially be imposed at a flat rate, considering taxpayers’ financial capacity.

He also announced that revenue policy formulation and revenue collection would be separated as part of a broader tax reform agenda. An independent policy-making body, comprising experts from outside the bureaucracy, will be formed to formulate revenue policies, he said. Expressing optimism about achieving the revenue target for the next fiscal year, the state minister said stricter action against tax evasion, along with automation and tax reforms, would help the government meet its collection goal.
Defending the proposed budget, Saki said although concerns had been raised over its financing, the government’s reform initiatives would strengthen revenue mobilisation.

He noted that several lawmakers had questioned both the size of the proposed budget and its sources of financing.

“The size of Bangladesh’s budget is around 13 percent of GDP, while in neighbouring and many other countries it generally ranges between 30 and 33 percent of GDP,” he said. “Considering our population and the level we aspire to reach as a nation, this is actually a small budget.”

The state minister said the government had inherited a “destroyed and fragile economy” and prepared the budget in line with the country’s current economic capacity while pursuing reconstruction and long-term prosperity.

He described the proposed budget as “not contractionary but expansionary in line with reality,” saying it strikes a balance between development priorities and prevailing economic conditions.

Responding to concerns over financing, Saki acknowledged doubts about achieving the National Board of Revenue’s ambitious revenue target of Tk 695,000 crore, given its past performance.

However, he claimed that revenue collection had increased significantly over the past four months compared with the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year due to a series of government initiatives.

Saki said the government had failed to collect adequate revenue because of tax evasion, tax fraud and excessive tax exemptions.

To address these challenges, he said the government was rapidly implementing automation across the tax administration. As part of the initiative, automation programmes were launched on Sunday at the NBR and five other institutions, he added.