The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has taken a move to expand its Value Added Tax (VAT) base, with a view to increase revenue collection for the national exchequer.
In a meeting chaired by NBR chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan on Thursday, the field level officials of Dhaka have been asked to be more active and sincere for improving VAT collection keeping aside the stories of growth.
An official who was present in the meeting told UNB that the NBR chairman has instructed them to expand the base of VAT.
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“I do not want to hear the word growth anymore, I want to see the expansion of VAT net,” the NBR official quoted the NBR chairman as saying.
The NBR boss also asked the officials to change their mind set regarding revenue collection.
“You have to change your attitude, otherwise there is no need to be here anymore,” he warned the officials who were present in the meeting, according to the official who spoke to UNB on condition of anonymity.
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The NBR chairman also assured that the good performers will be awarded, although he expressed his depression regarding the poor performance of the VAT wing.
“We are unable to show any good performance till now in VAT collection, you have to conduct combing drives to find new VAT payers, you have to work as the whole nation is depending on the NBR,” he told the meeting.
Abdur Rahman Khan, giving example of people’s eagerness to pay taxes during the 1/11 period, said that at that time people were very much enthusiastic to pay taxes.
“We have to handle the situation like that,” he said.
He also asked the officials not to harass the compliant VAT payers.
Earlier on Monday, while holding a pre-budget meeting with the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF), the NBR chairman had said that he had already instructed his VAT officials to conduct combing drives in a small area first to make all business people pay their VAT.
“No one will be left out from this drive, each and every shop owners will pay their applicable VAT, there will be no discrimination in this regard,” he said.
He said that the NBR is moving towards that direction.
The government on January 9 had issued the "Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025" and "The Excises and Salt Act (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025" imposing increased VAT rate on more than hundreds of different kinds of items aiming to strengthen the country's economic base.
But later, facing strong protest and criticism the NBR has issued several notifications by re-fixing the rates of VAT, Supplementary Duty and Excise Duty on a number goods and services, which were increased on January 9.
Now the NBR wants to impose a single, flat rate of VAT for all goods and services in the country, if the business people agree to that.
The NBR chairman has already said that the VAT is currently mired in total indiscipline.
He said that if input VAT credit and standard VAT rate can be imposed properly, then for many business entities the rate would be less than one percent.
He mentioned that for a long time the VAT Law has been distorted. In this connection he said that the new VAT Law was introduced in 2012 which was amended in 2019 after some major distortion.
He said that the power of VAT was accounting based and invoice based, it has been destroyed. As a result it is not growing right now, the main strength of VAT has been uprooted.
“We want to bring discipline in VAT,” he said in the pre-budget meeting with the ERF on Monday.