Expanding tax net: USA keen to provide technical support to Bangladesh
Staff Reporter :
The United States of America has expressed interest in assisting Bangladesh in expanding its tax base, as confirmed by officials from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
This initiative was conveyed through a letter sent via Bangladesh’s Embassy in North America. The letter, originating from the US Treasury Department, highlights their enthusiasm to provide technical support aimed at enhancing Bangladesh’s tax collection efforts.
Assistant Secretary Donald Lu of the US Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs visited Dhaka in mid-May to bolster bilateral relations. During this visit, discussions with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud underscored the US commitment to supporting Bangladesh in improving its revenue administration.
The Treasury Department’s letter seeks Bangladesh’s perspective on collaboration in several key areas. These include implementing international best practices to boost revenue collection, amending and enforcing laws to minimise compliance risks, ensuring fairness in administration, and promoting transparency within the revenue system.
The Treasury Department emphasised its extensive experience, noting its advisory role in revenue administration across 70 countries since 1990. Annually, the US engages in revenue projects in 12 to 15 countries, tailored to regional needs and cooperation assessments.
Technical support from the US includes expertise in policy-making, legislative drafting, strategic management, system design aligned with global standards, training, workshops, guidelines, and monitoring.
Their advisors specialise in various facets of revenue administration, including tax and customs management, compliance strategies, auditing, IT integration, human resource management, and revenue forecasting.
It also has experience in tariff classification, valuation, rules of origin, free trade agreements, customs modernization, risk management, post-clearance audits, specialised industry sectors, excise taxes, enforcement and compliance, trade facilitation, institutional development, internal affairs, investigation, and anti-corruption, the letter showed.
The NBR has yet to respond to the letter.
Wishing anonymity, an official of the revenue board told The New Nation, “The USA wants to exchange its experience with us. Normally, the exchange of experiences happens when a high level of good relations between the two countries prevails.”
“So, the decision will be taken after scrutinising the overall issues,” he added.