Missing revenue target

When a set revenue target looks unachievable, the reasons may be either it is too lofty to achieve or inefficiency on the part of taxmen or some unavoidable setback encountered at some point of the fiscal period. In case of Bangladesh, the general trend of mismatch between the revenue target and the actual earning is a combination of the first two. The fiscal year 2024-25 had also to bear the brunt of the third in the form of July-August uprising and its ripple effects throughout the year. If all this was not enough, the latest pen-down programme observed by the officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) following the ordinance on its bifurcation has proved to be the last straw on the camel's back. The consequence has been what it ought to be: by April, the government's revenue income will miss the downsized target by Tk 715 billion.

There was no guarantee that the tax department would have achieved the target if it did not go for the pen-down strike. But the disruption caused due to the protest programme, particularly at this late and crucial stage, is expected not only to miss the target by a bigger margin but may also decelerate the process of garnering revenue during the current and the final months of the outgoing financial year. Move to split the NBR was not only ill-timed but also the process of doing so caused dissent among the tax people. Sure enough, there was a need for reaching a consensus through extensive consultation with NBR officials before going for its bifurcation. Some experts have questioned the merit of placing the bifurcated organs of the NBR under the finance ministry because bureaucratic supervision will largely be responsible for compromising whatever autonomy the unified organisation enjoys. Evidently, such imposition of the decision could well be avoided and so too the self-inflicting harm. At a time when the country needs as much tax revenues as it can generate, smooth and better coordination was in demand.

Mobilisation of only Tk3.58 trillion in domestic revenue during the past 10 months of this fiscal and that too at a decelerated growth rate of 3.24 per cent compared to the previous fiscal still has a large gap to cover. Even the revenue officials have expressed their doubt that they cannot close the gap. This is certainly not good news for the interim government. In whichever form the NBR operates next until it is in power, it will have to carry the legacy of the past, this current fiscal year in particular.

At a time when the NBR was supposed to be invigorated to put in a robust performance in tax collection, any change in its organogram had to be brought about rationally and the timing of it had also to be perfect without negatively affecting its revenue mobilisation process. Taking care of the overriding need for clearing the augean stables was more important than any other programme. After all, the bottom line is to expand the tax net and eliminate the collusion between a segment of dishonest tax officials and tax payers that either unlawfully exempts some from submitting tax return or helps pay a radically sliced amount in place of the actual tax return they needed to submit.