Tax revenue collection in the first half of the current fiscal year (FY) fell short of target by Tk 127 billion as an impact of government's belt tightening measures.
Officials said restriction on import of products and government's austerity measures squeezed the overall expenditures resulting the revenue collection shortfall.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) mobilized Tk 1.45 trillion tax revenue in July-December period against its target for Tk 1.58 trillion.
However, tax revenue collection grew by nearly 11 per cent in the first six months of the FY compared to that of corresponding period last year.
VAT wing has achieved the highest 15.52 per cent growth followed by customs 9.25 per cent and income tax 7.29 per cent.
Until December 2022, the NBR has achieved 91.96 per cent of its target for H1.
Customs wing has achieved 82.41 per cent of its target set for H1 followed by VAT wing 99.37 and income tax 94.16 per cent.
In a recent revenue meeting, the NBR chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem asked its officials to focus on declining growth of income taxes.
He instructed the field-level income tax officials to intensify their monitoring to escalate the income tax collection growth.
He also expressed concern over higher tax evasion in land customs stations, customs houses, ports.
The NBR chief also instructed customs officials to strengthen their surveillances to check tax evasion in the customs points.
