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Focus on income tax

344 taxpayers awarded

Star Business Report
Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday asked tax officials to stop corruption and harassing taxpayers to bring a change in the culture of the department.
He also unveiled a plan under which the present government will be able to collect Tk 20,000 crore from income tax when it would hand over power after four years.
Now the government earns nearly Tk 14,000 crore a year.
“Corruption should come down and collectors will not harass any taxpayers,” Muhith told a function organised to award the leading taxpayers.
The minister said the taxpayers are greatly contributing to the economy and serving the nation as well.
National BoanJ of Revenue (NBR) organised the programme at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka to mark the second National Income Tax Day.
NBR Chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed presided over the function addressed, among others, by Prime Minister's Economic Affairs Adviser Mashiur Rahman.
A total of 344 taxpayers from across the country were awarded in two categories - long-time taxpayers and highest taxpayers -- for fiscal 2008-09.
Corruption is rampant in the tax
department and the officials often harass the taxpayers in order to make their own fortune. Tax-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio in Bangladesh is slightly over 10 percent, one of the lowest in the world.
The finance minister said it is not so easy to curb corruption, as it is a social malady.
"There is no other way than boosting collection from direct taxes. But it requires a dynamic tax department," said Muhith.
He said those who can afford must pay taxes on their earning.
The minister said: "People must pay tax keeping in mind that paying tax means serving the country."
He also expressed concern that only seven lakh people pay taxes in the country.
Despite corruption, Bangladesh has been achieving a double-digit growth in income tax for the past one decade. The growth was about 18 percent in the immediate past fiscal year ended on June 30,2009.
Mashiur Rahman said people are still afraid of the tax department and its officials.
Rahman asked the NBR to enhance skill of its officials to boost collection.
The taxpayers who received awards reacted positively to the NBR move. They said the recognition would encourage them in the years to come.