The National Board of Revenue (NBR) may not meet its revenue collection target this fiscal too for Covid-induced economic slowdown and a wide range of tax exemptions in the budget.
According to the provisional data, the shortfall in tax revenue collection was Tk 450 billion against its revised target of Tk 3.01 trillion.
The government has set Tk 3.30-trillion target for tax revenue collection for FY2021-22 against actual collection (provisional) of Tk 2.56 trillion in FY21.
The revenue board has achieved significant year-on-year growth for the taxman's relentless efforts, although there is still a deficit against the target.
NBR chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem said this during a monthly lottery draw of electronic fiscal device (EFD) invoices on the NBR premises on Monday.
The tax authorities would be able to cut tax rates if collection increases with tax compliance and motivation due to the offer of waiver in the budget, he said.
Businesses demanded a reduction of tax claiming that it would help increase compliance, he said.
Mr Muneem, however, admitted that a section of dishonest tax officials helped businesses evade taxes, saying that some businesses were also pursuing those officials to do so.
He requested the businesses to lodge written complaints against those officials in case of any sort of harassment.
The NBR hosted the sixth lottery draw of EFD-issued invoices for the month of June and selected 101 winners for prizes ranging from Tk 0.1 million to Tk 10,000.
The coupons for June will remain valid until July 31.
The NBR installed 3,393 EFDs until June 30, 2021, and it has a plan to put in place a total of 10,000 EFDs countrywide in the current fiscal year.
