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Tax receipts double

The week-long fair ends, brings in Tk 839cr in tax

Star Business Report
The weeklong income tax fair ended yesterday, with calls for extending the fair's opening hours in future, as the show generated a handsome amount of revenue.
The fair, which attracted 3.46 lakh taxpayers, allowed the National Board of Revenue to log Tk 839 crore in tax, more than double the lastyear'sTk414 crore at a similar show.
"It has turned into a fair in real sense. I feel very proud that people are paying taxes to the government happily," said Finance Minister AMA Muhith at the closing ceremony at the Officers' Club in Dhaka.
This year, the fair was held at seven divisional cities and eleven districts, and was open from 10am to 5pm everyday. "Itisourresponsi-bility, especially as income tax officials, to
encourage people to pay tax," said Muhith.
The minister said the fair should remain open in the evening as well, to give the officegoers the opportunity to visit the show.
The fair, in its third year, aims to create a tax-paying culture in the country, where tax evasion is rampant and less than 1 percent out of 15 crore population pay tax.
Referring to the country's population, Muhith said the number of taxpayers should be 75 lakh if only 5 percent people pay tax.
"We have a huge task."
The tax-GDP ratio, the indicator of a country's strength to finance its expenditures, rose to 10.6 percent in fiscal 2011-12, from the previous year's 8.2 percent.
“The NBR aims to take the ratio to 13 percent by 2015," said its Chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed.
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Over the past five years, the NBR recorded more than 20 percent growth on average in income tax receipts, particularly because of the steady growth of economy.
"Income tax plays an important role in creating a society based on equity," said Ahmed.
He also said the revenue administrator is taking steps to reform policies, simplify tax-return forms and go for full automation, to make the process of paying tax as hassle-free as possible.
Abdus Sobhan Sikder, a senior secretary at the public administration ministry, said the rules and regulations are not easy to understand and should be simplified more.
The tax collector aims to increase the income tax receipts by 24 percent to Tk 35,300 crore this year, from the Tk28,360 crore recorded a year ago.