The kingpin of the revenue board pins high hopes on reaching closer to the target of tax-revenue collection in the just-concluded fiscal year.
A target is given expecting high growth which may not be achievable always, adds National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem.
"We are now compiling data from all field offices and final data might be available after 15th of this month (July)," he says.
The tax revenue collection target for fiscal year 2021-22 was Tk 3.30 trillion. Until May, the revenue board collected Tk 2.52 trillion in revenue.
Addressing the lottery draw of the electronic fiscal device (EFD) on the NBR premises on Tuesday, he said the NBR is trying all out to reach the target.
Mr Muneem says the revenue collection target is increasing every year, whereas tax rate is going down on different sectors.
The government is focusing on widening tax net by addressing the yet untapped potential, he adds.
People having TIN (taxpayer identification number) must submit proof of tax return submission from this year to obtain a host of services, the NBR chief maintains.
On expenditure cuts or an austerity move by the government, he says the NBR only collects revenue but how it would be spent is not under its supervision.
"We can't do anything but to express dissatisfaction on excessive expenditure of public money," he adds.
On EFD lottery, Mr Muneem says they are not getting an encouraging response from consumers to claim prizes.
Only 95 prizes have been distributed in 16 sessions of the lottery draw.
NBR member (VAT) Dr Moinul Khan says 7,590 EFDs have so far been installed in Dhaka and Chattogram.
The NBR is getting a double amount of VAT from the retail outlets that have EFDs, he discloses.
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