NBR tax revenue collection falls short of target  

NBR tax revenue collection fell short of the target by Tk 65.61 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year (FY), data of an independent multidisciplinary think tank showed.

The think tank, Unnayan Onneshan (UO), revealed the data in its monthly publication of Bangladesh Economic Update November 2017.

The research organisation forecast that total collection of NBR tax revenue in the Q1 of FY 2017-18 has stood at Tk 588.97 billion against the four months' target of Tk 654.58 billion.

The UO said that the total collection of revenue may fall short of the target by Tk 389 billion in the end of the current fiscal year.

According to the statistics, all the three wings of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) were lagging far behind the targets set for the Q1.

Government has set the revenue target at Tk 195.75 billion for income and travel tax, Tk 253.31 billion for value added tax (VAT) at the local level, and Tk 205.52 billion for import and export tax, while the actual collections fall short by 13 per cent, 9.55 per cent, and 7.78 per cent respectively.

The UO observed that revenue collection has particularly been assuming a declining trend in the periods of national elections since the FY 1994-95, they also fears a drop in revenue growth in the coming years.

The revenue growth fell to 14.59 per cent in FY 2001-02 from 21.26 per cent in FY 2000-01, to 14.27 per cent in FY 2008-09 from 22.37 per cent in FY 2007-08, and to 12.17 per cent in FY 2013-14 from 21.57 per cent in FY 2012-13, the data showed.

The rate of growth in revenue collection has declined in recent years, averaging 13.96 per cent in the last five fiscal years (FY 2012 - FY 2017) compared to 18.4 per cent in the preceding five fiscal years (FY 2007 - FY 2012), reports UNB.

Since the FY 2012-13, collection of total tax revenue as percentage of GDP has been on the decline, although the ratio has slightly increased in FY 2016-17, finds the think tank.

The tax-GDP ratio stood at 9.74 per cent in FY 2012-13, which declined to 9.69 per cent, 9.28 per cent, and 8.98 per cent in FY 2013-14, FY 2014-15, and FY 2015-16 respectively.

However, the ratio rose at 9.79 per cent in FY 2016-17.