The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The government's revenue earnings during the just concluded fiscal year of 2007-08 surpassed all the previous records exceeding the revised target by Tk 1,231 crore.

"This is for the first time in the history of Bangladesh that we have succeeded to earn Tk 47,201 crore against the target of Tk 45,970 crore," said MA Mazid, Chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR) while addressing a press briefing at his office in the city yesterday.

For the first time, the NBR also disclosed the names of top ten companies, which paid the highest amounts of tax and VAT during the outgoing fiscal year.

The top 10 taxpayers are: GrameenPhone (Tk 435 crore), Standard Chartered Bank (Tk 220 crore), Chevron Bangladesh (Tk 180 crore), Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (Tk 161 crore), Titas Gas (Tk 136 crore), HSBC (Tk 118 crore), South East Bank Ltd (Tk 88 crore), Pubali Bank Ltd (Tk 78 crore), Citi Bank NA (Tk 76 crore) and Prime Bank Ltd (Tk 67 crore).

The top 10 VAT payers are: British American Tobacco Bangladesh (Tk 2828 crore), GrameenPhone (1438 crore), Dhaka Tobacco Ltd (Tk 1180 crore), Titas Gas Field (Tk 764 crore), Seba Telecom Ltd (Tk 601 crore), Habiganj Gas Fields Ltd (Tk 465 crore), AKTel (Tk 277 crore), Kailashtila Gas (Tk 196 crore), Rural Electrification Board (Tk 105 crore) and Rashidpur Gas Fields Ltd (Tk 101 crore).

The NBR Chairman said the original revenue earning target at the beginning of the last fiscal year was Tk 43,850 crore, which was revised later and the target was fixed at Tk 45,970 crore. "But, we have succeeded to earn Tk 47,200 crore exceeding the revised target by Tk 1230 crore," he said.

"This revenue income and growth in revenue earnings in the just concluded fiscal year are temporary because the revenue earnings will increase somewhat subsequently," he said.

Mazid said the NBR would not stop its regular drives to catch tax dodgers although there is a four-month amnesty in place for disclosure of undeclared money earned through legal means.

The government announced the amnesty, which remains effective from July 1, but the revenue sector regulator said it does not mean that tax dodgers are going to get any reprieve from its hunt.

"Our drive to detect tax dodgers will not stop during these four months," he said.

The chairman said that his office has trained its 100 officials with a special focus on detection of tax evaders and ways of realising money from them.

Replying to a query, Mazid said that the NBR might prepare a list of the top tax-defaulters but world not give a clear-cut timeframe.

Responding to a query, he said that the price spiral might be one of the reasons for the huge collection of the revenue, especially VAT.

Explaining his statement, the chairman said when a product costs higher it means that the amount of VAT would be higher.

The four-month amnesty has been offered for a second consecutive period under this caretaker administration.

Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam in his budget speech on June 9 said that the individual tax-payers could declare their undeclared legal income accrued in any year in a prescribed format.

But the individuals have to pay a penalty at the rate of 7 percent on the tax payable in addition to the regular taxes at the rates applicable for FY 2008-09.

This opportunity expires on October 31.

The caretaker government last fiscal year gave the amnesty for the tax delinquents to come above board with their undisclosed money that was earned by legal means in another format.

Under the amnesty, the tax dodgers having Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) had to pay extra 5 percent in fines apart from their usual taxes with the normal tax base of that particular period.

Earlier, successive governments had offered similar amnesty for the delinquents several times, the latest one in 2005-06 fiscal year, but that was for both the groups of tax-dodgers--those who earned honestly and those dishonestly.

The scheme, however, failed to make any major headway as only Tk 5,213 crore undisclosed income was disclosed in the period, with the government earning an extra tax of Tk 802 crore.

Only 42,459 people availed the opportunity, despite an earlier forecast that a nationwide anti-graft crackdown launched by the caretaker government would prompt hundreds of thousands to get whitened their unrevealed income.