Dhaka: Bangladesh will take steps to seal loopholes in the tax system within the next year to boost revenue collection, National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said on Saturday.

‘The automation process will be completed within 2019. It will give us accurate information on VAT and tax, and prevent multinational companies from evading taxes,’ he said.

‘We are under pressure to increase revenue collection as the national budget is getting bigger every year,’ Mosharraf said at a shadow parliament debate on the government’s sincerity about making the existing tax management system people friendly. 

It was organised by Debate for Democracy (DFD) at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation in the capital. Bangladesh University of Business and Technology won the debate, while Islamic University was the runner-up.
The debaters highlighted various government initiatives and some legal loopholes.

‘Some companies do not pay their taxes in full,’ Mosharraf said. ‘The NBR has to move the court. And the companies pay their overdue after the court orders them to. But it is lengthy process.’

DFD Chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron requested NBR to ease the tax collection system. ‘The revenue collection is supposed to be 30 percent of the national income but we are collecting only 10 to 11 percent,’ he noted.

He suggested sealing off legal loopholes and taking stern actions against multinational companies evading tax and VAT. Kiron also recommended forming a special tribunal for quick disposal of tax evasion related cases.