PM to inaugurate revenue conference on Sunday

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate a two-day revenue conference on Sunday to be held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka.

National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, came up with the announcement during a press conference held at the NBR conference room in Dhaka on Friday.

The NBR is going to organise the revenue conference to develop the country's revenue management system, he said.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the event and the new building of the NBR on the same day,” Muneem said during the press conference.

BSS adds: Muneem said there will be a total of three seminars on value-added tax (VAT), customs and income tax.

"In addition to seminars, there will be information booths on these issues. People will be able to know more about VAT, customs and income tax. At the same time awareness about online services will also increase," added the NBR chairman.

At the press conference, NBR Member Pradyut Kumar Sarkar said the ratio of tax to gross domestic product (GDP) will increase once the tax exemptions are gradually reduced.

"Tax exemptions in various sectors have helped the country develop economically and we have gotten good results from this facility in the last two decades," he added.

He said, "Our GDP is now US$470 billion. The government has provided tax exemptions in many sectors, including the agriculture sector, trade sector, and more. The public sacrificed (their hard-earned money) due to these exemptions".

"The government will continue to provide this facility to sectors that still need it. However, for sectors that have gotten a strong footing already and can run without tax exemptions the number of incentives might be gradually decreased." Pradyut Kumar Sarkar said and added that this in turn will increase the tax-GDP ratio.

Another NBR Member Masud Sadiq said that the NBR is on the right track to increase revenue as per the conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while providing a loan.

"However, tax restructuring is a continuous process. It is done every year while fixing the budget, irrespective of getting the IMF loan," he added.