The tax rates will come down if more people are brought under the tax net and if the government reduces the tax rate, people will be less inclined towards evading tax, speakers told a seminar yesterday.

The National Board of Revenue will honour the country’s top taxpayers today to celebrate their compliance and commitment to paying taxes regularly.

The government plans to merge development and revenue budgets, amend income tax laws and establish a procurement authority in the next three years as part of a set of reforms aimed at boosting revenue collection and ensuring transparency in expenditure.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) today named nine firms for payment of highest amount of Value Added Tax (VAT) nationally in respective sectors for the fiscal year 2019-20 in an effort to encourage businesses to deposit the indirect tax paid by consumers properly to the state coffer.

The surge in sales of state-backed savings instruments has become a major source of income for the revenue collector in recent years as it charges up to 10 per cent tax on the profits made mainly by pensioners and middle-class families.

Instead of organising the customary annual fair, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for a second time in a row will open booths at its field offices to help citizens fill out and submit tax returns.

For the last three years Md Saiful Islam has been preparing and submitting his income tax returns all by himself.

The customs authority yesterday reduced import tariff for onion and raw sugar in order to cut costs of businesses and contain the spiralling prices of the two popular items, according to notifications from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

Manufacturers of raw materials used in making medicines will receive tax exemption until 2032 as the government looks to encourage local production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to cut import reliance and bolster exports.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will undertake an income tax survey from today to collect information about those who still remain outside of its tax net despite having taxable income. 

Individual taxpayers will have to submit their income tax returns at tax offices this year too as the annual tax fair will not be held this time to avoid mass gatherings amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Revenue collection soared nearly 15 per cent to Tk 34,548 crore in the July-August period of the current fiscal year from Tk 30,160 crore, powered by a recovery in economic and business activities since lifting of the countrywide lockdown early August.

The field office of the value-added tax (VAT) and audit team of the tax administrator is going to examine the authenticity of audited financial statements submitted by companies along with their returns.

Five global tech firms paid Tk 4.6 crore as value-added tax (VAT) in August, with social media giant Facebook depositing the highest amount, which reflects the growing interest of businesses in using advertisements about their products and services in the digital sphere.

Thirty banks and financial institutions of the country were honoured by Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday for being last fiscal year’s top taxpayers.

The National Board of Revenue has requested the Bangladesh Bank to order banks to refrain from opening back-to-back letters of credit for factories that do not have bonded warehouse licences.

Revenue collection grew marginally in July owing to the slowdown in business activities in the face of the government’s restrictions to combat the coronavirus spread.

Import-related irregularities have gone down significantly after the National Board of Revenue (NBR) doubled the minimum penalty for evading duties, helping the government earn more in taxes.

The customs authorities will not grant duty benefits under the South Asia Free Trade Area (Safta) if importers submit import related documents issued by non-member states of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc), said a circular from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

Green Delta Insurance Company has virtually launched an online VAT return processing software automating the whole process and ensuring transparency, convenience and timely processing.