The New Nation - Internet Edition

BUSINESS REPORT

The National Board of Revenue's chairman Abdul Majid has said government might defer the deadline for the submission of income tax returns.

'Enhancing the time for submitting income tax return is being considered seriously,' said the NBR chief while addressing a gathering of businessmen in the Dhaka Chambers of Commerce and Industry's auditorium on Tuesday.

At the gathering, organised to launch the DCCI Tax Guide 2008-2009, businessmen desperately urged him to announce something about extension of the time for submitting income tax returns.

'But it is a very bad practice as Bengalis are fond of completing any work at the last moment,' the NBR's chairman told the audience of businessmen. 'Delayed collection of revenue disrupts the fiscal activities of the government.'

The time for submitting income tax returns for individuals and enterprises usually ranges between the beginning of July to the end of September. The government last year had also extended the time in response requests from tax-payers.

Replying to a question regarding simplification of bond procedures, the NBR chief said his office had initiated a programme to prepare a bond policy to simplify procedures and prevent abuse of bond facilities.

'We [NBR] have heard many allegations of the misuse of bond facilities,' he said.

In this regard Majid said that after automation was completed in the Customs Office in Chittagong, projects are underway to do the same in the Dhaka Customs House and Inland Container Depot to enable the government to scrap the outdated system of pre-shipping inspection before clearance of imports, and for many other reasons.

The DCCI's president, Hossain Khaled, demanded that the lowest amount of income tax should be reduced to Tk 1,000 from Tk 2,000 since tax is a heavy burden on low-income groups.

He pointed out that introduction of universal self-declaration system in tax assessment, automation in the customs networks and, above all, lessening of harassment of entrepreneurs will help to increase realisation of income tax by the government.