revenue
FY22: Nagad hands Tk4.5 crore to postal department as revenue
Mobile financial services provider (MFS) Nagad handed over nearly Tk4.5 crore to the postal department as revenue share in the fiscal year (FY) 2021-22.
Posts and Telecommunications Secretary Md Khalilur Rahman received a cheque from Nagad Executive Director Md Shafayet Alam Wednesday in Dhaka.
Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar, Director General of the postal department Md Harunur Rashid, and Nagad Founder and Managing Director Tanvir A Mishuk were also present.
As per an agreement, the postal department is entitled to 51 percent of the total revenue earned by Nagad and the remaining 49 percent goes to the MFS.
Read more: Nagad holds 'Distributors Meet 2022'
Nagad gave the postal department Tk3.31 crore in FY21 and Tk1.12 crore in FY20.
Jabbar said: "Nagad has saved the country thousand crores of taka. From the very beginning, we were with Nagad. We are and will be with them."
"There is a huge difference between Nagad and Bkash's cash out charge, and that is thousand crores of taka. We thank Nagad for this. The country needs Nagad."
Tanvir said: "Every year we share our revenue shares with the postal department. According to the agreement between the department and Nagad, today we shared 51 percent of revenues with it."
Cigarettes imported behind dates from Dubai to escape Tk 7.11 crore revenue: Customs
Chattogram Customs in a recent investigation found out that a company has tried to evade Tk 7 .11 crore revenue by importing cigarettes behind dates from Dubai.
The consignment had 55,52,400 sticks of Mound cigarettes worth Tk 1.19 Crore, said MD Sharfuddin Mia, Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram Customs House.
He said the information was revealed on Sunday during a physical examination at Ispahani Summit Alliance Terminals Limited at Sagarika.
Also read: Customs officials recover firearms, ammo hidden in household goods at Ctg port
According to customs, a 40 feet container supposed to be filled with dates was shipped on December 27, last year from Jebel Ali port in Dubai and it reached Chattogram Port on December 30.
The consignment was imported by Suchona International owned by Jahangir Alam from Boktopur in Fatikchhari upazila in Chattogram.
After the importer did not submit a bill of entry for four months and the container was lying at the yard, Customs officials conducted a physical test Sunday which revealed the irregularity.
Among the 2,772 cartons in the container 1,983 had cigarettes which were hidden behind 789 cartons of dates.
Also read: Customs hotline starts test operation for ASYCUDA related service
MD Sharfuddin Mia said, “In fear of detective surveillance the importer could not release the consignment of cigarettes from the port. Strict legal actions will be taken against importer Suchona International for trying to evade revenue.”
Revenue declined by Tk 26.75 cr due to covid restrictions on Benapole port
Travel sector revenues decreased by about Tk 26.75 crore in 2021 through Benapole Land Port as the Omicron surge had reduced passenger traffic between Bangladesh and India.
In 2021, only 1,63,974 went to India through Benapole whereas 6,99,107 people traveled to India in 2020. As a result, the passenger traffic on this route has decreased by 5,35, 133 passengers in 2021 as compared to 2020.
About 18 to 20 lakh passengers travel to India every year on medical, business, education and travel visas through Benapole International Checkpost due to the ease of communication.
READ: Benapole customs report growth in revenue despite pandemic
Md Raju, officer-in-charge of Benapole Immigration, said 8,000 to 10,000 passengers used to travel through this route every day before the pandemic. Currently, passenger traffic has been reduced due to restrictions.
The Covid Negative Certificate through the RT-PCR test within 72 hours is needed for returning to and from India.
The government earns about Tk 6,000 crore from the trade sector while the government's revenue from the travel sector is about Tk 100 crore.
On March 13, 2020, India imposed restrictions on travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic and suspended trade through land ports on March 26. However, it allowed domestic flights from May, 2020, and the entry of foreigners except tourists from October.
Later, when the situation became somewhat normal, after four months, the ban on trade through Benapole port was lifted and trade gradually became normal. But, travel on tourist visas is still closed.
Ayub Hossain, a passenger returning to India, said, "We cannot rely on medical services. Most physicians cannot diagnose the disease."
If the medical system improves in the country, they would not have to go to India risking their lives during the covid pandemic. As a result, the country's money would remain in the country, he said.
Passengers coming from India on business visas said that they are applying for visas by road but they are getting visas by air at present. Again, those who have road visas before are also being barred from traveling by Indian immigration on various pretexts.
"Although it is very urgent, I cannot go to India as I need," the passenger added.
Benapole Immigration's Health Department Monitoring Officer Dr Mejbaul Hasan said the India returnees were being tested for rapid antigen to prevent covid infection.
READ: Export-Import through Benapole land port suspended
In the last two months, after testing the samples of 140 people, nine people have tested positive.
The infected were tested positive in India. The covid patients were kept in the red zone of Corona Unit of Jashore Sadar Hospital, the officer added.
Abdul Jalil, deputy director (Traffic) of Benapole Port, said the import-export between the two countries is slowly getting stable amid this pandemic. However, due to the ban on travel, passenger traffic has decreased.
Shares of Facebook parent Meta plunge 22% on lower profits
Newly-renamed Meta is investing heavily in its futuristic “metaverse” project, but for now, relies on advertising revenue for nearly all its income. So when it posted sharply higher costs but gave a weak revenue forecast late Wednesday, investors got spooked — and knocked almost $200 billion off the valuation of the company formerly known as Facebook.
Meta’s shares fell 22.6% to $249.90 in after-hours trading. If the drop holds until the market opens Thursday, the company’s overall value, known as its market capitalization, is on track to drop by a figure greater than the size of the entire Greek economy, based on data from the World Bank.
Read:Meta’s campaigns strengthened Bangladesh govt’s COVID response
The metaverse is sort of the internet brought to life, or at least rendered in 3D. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described it as a “virtual environment” in which you can immerse yourself instead of just staring at a screen. Theoretically, the metaverse would be a place where people can meet, work and play using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps or other devices.
But building it is not likely to be cheap.
Meta invested more than $10 billion in its Reality Labs segment — which includes its virtual reality headsets and augmented reality technology — in 2021, contributing to the quarter’s profit decline. It expanded its workforce by 23%, ending the year with 71,970 employees, mostly in technical roles.
Read Plenty of pitfalls await Zuckerberg’s ‘metaverse’ plan
The company also said revenue in the current quarter is likely to come in below market expectations, due in part to growing competition from TikTok and other rival platforms vying for people’s attention. Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s chief operating officer, said in a conference call with analysts that global supply chain issues, labor shortages and earlier-than-usual holiday spending by advertisers put pressure on the company’s advertising sales.
Another problem: Recent privacy changes by Apple make it harder for companies like Meta to track people for advertising purposes, which also puts pressure on the company’s revenue. For months now, Meta has been warning investors that its revenue can’t continue to grow at the breakneck pace they are accustomed to.
Read In the middle of a crisis, Facebook Inc. renames itself Meta
“It is time for a reality check on Meta’s position for the metaverse,” said Raj Shah, an analyst at the digital consulting firm Publicis Sapient. “The metaverse is a long way from being profitable or filling the gap in ad revenue after Apple’s policy change.”
People’s changing online behavior is also limiting Meta’s money-making abilities. More people are watching video, such as Instagram’s Reels (a TikTok clone), and this makes less money than more established features.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company said it earned $10.29 billion, or $3.67 per share, in the final three months of 2021. That’s down 8% from $11.22 billion, or $3.88 per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose to 20% to $33.67 billion.
Read What the metaverse is and how it will work
Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $3.85 per share on revenue of $33.36 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.
Meta Platforms Inc. took on its new name last fall to emphasize Zuckerberg’s new focus on the metaverse. Since then, the company has been shifting resources and hiring engineers — including from competitors like Apple and Google — who can help realize his vision.
Zuckerberg is betting that the metaverse will be the next generation of the internet because he thinks it’s going to be a big part of the digital economy. He expects people to start seeing Meta as a “metaverse company” in the coming years, rather than a social media company.
Read:Plenty of pitfalls await Zuckerberg’s ‘metaverse’ plan
For now, though, the metaverse exists only as an amorphous idea envisioned — and named — by the science fiction author Neal Stephenson three decades ago. It’s not yet clear if it’ll be the next iteration of human-computer interaction the way Zuckerberg sees it, or just another playground for techies and gamers.
This could be spooking investors, who tend to prefer immediate, or at least quick, results on investments.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty about Meta’s investments in the metaverse and if or when they will have a positive impact on the company’s bottom line,” said Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with Insider Intelligence.
Read How Do Social Media Influencers Make Money?
“While we expect Meta to ramp up testing ads and commerce within its metaverse offerings this year, those efforts will be highly experimental and not likely to drive much revenue in the near term,” she added.
Meta said it expects revenue between $27 billion and $29 billion for the current quarter, below the $30.2 billion analysts are forecasting.
Samsung Electronics' revenue hits record high in 2021
Samsung Electronics, South Korea's tech behemoth, posted its highest revenue last year on solid global demand for semiconductors, the company said on Thursday.
Consolidated revenue gained 18.1 percent over the year to reach a new high of 279.6 trillion won (232.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021.
Operating profit soared 43.5 percent to 51.63 trillion won (43 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, marking the third-highest figure in the company's history. Net income jumped 51.1 percent to 39.91 trillion won (33.2 billion U.S. dollars).
Read Telenor unveils 5 tech trends that will shape 2022
The record revenue was driven by the semiconductor business. Revenue in the chip-making unit amounted to 94.16 trillion won (78.2 billion U.S. dollars) last year, accounting for one-third of the total.
Samsung's fourth-quarter revenue also hit a quarterly high due to the expanded sale of premium smartphones, TVs and home appliances as well as the robust chip demand that offset the lower chip price.
Revenue advanced 24.4 percent from a year earlier to 76.57 trillion won (63.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the three months ending Dec. 31.
Also read: Samsung Galaxy S21FE 5G hits stores
Operating profit surged 53.3 percent to 13.87 trillion won (11.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the October-December quarter, and net income spiked 64 percent to 10.84 trillion won (9 billion U.S. dollars).
The semiconductor division recorded an operating profit of 8.84 trillion won (7.3 billion U.S. dollars) on revenue of 26.01 trillion won (21.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the fourth quarter.
Samsung said overall chip demand was strong in the fourth quarter despite a slight fall in average selling price and a continuation of global supply chain disruption.
Read Symphony exports smartphones to Nepal
The company expected server chip demand to grow this year thanks to the increased IT investment and new high-core central processing units (CPUs), saying that mobile chip demand may increase with the expanded 5G lineup.
The display panel business registered an operating profit of 1.32 trillion won (1.1 billion U.S. dollars) on revenue of 9.06 trillion won (7.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the fourth quarter.
Mobile panel earnings continued to improve in the quarter on solid demand for newly-launched smartphones, but large panel earnings widened losses on a lower price for liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.
Read Walton brings 11th Gen laptops
Samsung forecast that robust demand for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels may continue this year based on rising 5G penetration and the growth of the foldable phone market.
The mobile phone and networks business logged an operating profit of 2.66 trillion won (2.2 billion U.S. dollars) on revenue of 28.95 trillion won (24.1 billion U.S. dollars).
Overall market demand was driven in the fourth quarter by the strong year-end seasonality and the increased sale of premium smartphones, such as foldable lineup and Galaxy S series, while the sales of PCs, tablets and wearable devices also contributed to the revenue growth, according to Samsung.
Read Walton, Buet sign MoUs to work on research, innovation
The tech giant noted that uncertainties would remain over the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and the component supply shortage, but it expected the market of smartphones and wearable devices to continue growing this year.
The consumer electronics unit logged an operating profit of 700 billion won (581.6 million U.S. dollars) on revenue of 15.35 trillion won (12.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the final quarter of last year.
Demand for TVs and home appliances increased in the fourth quarter due to year-end seasonality, but the growth slowed on the back of the fading effects of pent-up demand.
Read realme registers stunning global growth in 2021
Samsung forecast that demand would rise this year for premium and super-large TVs, predicting a sluggish market for home appliances.
Samsung's capital expenditure totaled 48.2 trillion won (40.1 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, including 43.6 trillion won (36.2 billion U.S. dollars) for semiconductors and 2.6 trillion won (2.2 billion U.S dollars) for display panels.
Govt aims to boost national revenue for rapid economic growth: Official document
The government is aiming to take up the economy’s revenue-GDP ratio to 11.5 per cent by 2023-24 fiscal through modernisation of revenue administration, broadening the tax base, higher tax compliance, reform of laws and simplification of process.
"This is expected to significantly impact revenue mobilisation, and hence, over the medium term, total revenue-GDP ratio is projected to increase at 11.5 per cent in 2023-24 fiscal," an official document stated.
READ: Poland praises Bangladesh’s economic growth
The projection for 2022-23 fiscal is 11.3 per cent while target for the current 2021-22 fiscal is 11.3 per cent.
It said that in the recent years the government has taken several significant stringent measures to reinforce domestic resource mobilisation. Revenue income elasticity with respect to GDP is low in Bangladesh.
"The current revenue-GDP ratio is very low compared to the neighbouring and other developing countries," said the document.
It mentioned that to recover the economy from shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has maintained an expansionary fiscal policy stance. In the context of COVID-19, revenue earning has declined significantly.
On the other hand, higher spending due to government's adoption of countercyclical measurers as responses to the economic impact of COVID-19 is creating budgetary pressure.
Several reform initiatives have been taken by the government to reinforce domestic resource mobilisation as well as to improve revenue-GDP ratio.
In this connection, the document stated that automation of the VAT collection and bonded warehousing system are ongoing. Enactment of the new Customs Act, 2020 is at the final stage.
In 2019-20 fiscal the revenue-GDP ratio was 9.5 per cent while target for 2020-21 fiscal was 11.9 per cent, but it was revised to 11.4 per cent.
The document said that the fundamental objective of public expenditure policy is to enhance and improve the emergency healthcare facilities, stimulate both private and public investment, creating employment opportunities, expansion of social safety net programmes and ensure efficient redistribution of wealth through pro-poor, inclusive development.
In addition, it said the government is pursuing to keep budget deficit within the sustainable range so that the debt to GDP ratio does not increase at a higher pace.
"Due to outbreak of the pandemic, implementation of development projects has been slower, but the expenditure on social protection programmes and stimulus packages to address the COVID-19 crisis is rising substantially," the document added.
The size of public expenditure is historically low relative to GDP. It was only 14.9 per cent to GDP in 2019-20 fiscal, while it stands at 17.5 per cent in the revised budget of 2020-21 fiscal year from 17.9 per cent.
The document mentioned that public spending is targeted to be elevated to around 17 per cent of GDP over the medium term.
For the current 2021-22 fiscal it has been set at 17.5 per cent while for 2022-23 and 2023-34 fiscals it has been projected at 17 per cent.
READ: WB lauds Bangladesh's economic growth despite downturn
As per the document, the government has already initiated public financial management (PFM) reforms. The PFM Reform Strategy 2016-21 along with other reform programmes have been implementing with a view to improving overall public service delivery, financial control of budget allocation, real time monitoring of budget execution, and integration of recurrent and capital spending.
The PFM Action Plan 2018-23 has been prepared and implementation is going on.
Under the PFM reforms, the official document said, E-chalan system and a new budget and accounting system (Ibas++) have been introduced, new accounting BACS has been completed, and automation of national savings certificate sales has been introduced.
It also mentioned that the government to person (G2P) payment is being rolled out for social safety net programmes.
READ: ADB lowers its economic growth forecast for developing Asia
The document hoped that simplification of fund release process, disbursement of government employees' salaries and pensions through electronic fund transfer (EFT) will increase the efficiency of expenditures.
GP congratulates LTU-Tax for achieving revenue target
Grameenphone on Tuesday congratulated the Largest Taxpayers Unit (LTU-Tax) of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for their outstanding performance to achieve the record revenue target of Tk 24,000 crore for the fiscal year 2020-21.
Meanwhile, Grameenphone has been announced as the highest taxpayer within the LTU-Tax for the year 2020 – 2021 at same event held at the capital's Skycity Hotel.
Grameenphone deposited BDT3,889crore in taxes for the 2020 – 2021 window.
Read GP Explorers: 2nd batch graduates from Grameenphone's in-house skill academy
On behalf of Grameenphone, its CEO Yasir Azman congratulated LTU-Tax while receiving an award for GP's contribution to the national exchequer.
"We would like to congratulate LTU-Tax for achieving this historical milestone and contributing further to self-sustained Digital Bangladesh in the making. This achievement is a testimony of commitment, digitalization & automation by NBR and growing good and ethical business practices by corporates and citizens as a collective force. We are humbled that our contribution has also been recognized for the consistent contribution to the national exchequer. We look forward to contributing more in the coming days to unleash the full potential of Digital Bangladesh, " said Yasir Azman.
Read Grameenphone awarded for resolving highest cases through ADR
Fazle Kabir, Governor of Bangladesh Bank; Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, Senior Secretary of Internal Resources Division (IRD) and Chairman of NBR; Md Alamgir Hossain, Member (Tax Policy) (Grade-1); Md Golam Nabi, Member (Tax Administration and Human Resource Management) (Grade-1); Md Iqbal Hossain, Tax Commissioner, LTU. In addition, from Grameenphone, Jens Becker, CFO, and Md Mohsin, Head of Corporate Tax were present at the program.
Economy faces challeges of revenue shortfall and defaulting bank loans: Document
Revenue deficit defaulting bank loans and worsening poverty situation due to COVID-19 are causing some problems in the country’s economy.
According to a budgetary document, revenue deficit and increasing unrealised loans in banking sector are hurtimg the economy.
It also stated that poverty situation is also a matter of future concern .
The target of revenue collection for the running fiscal has been set at Tk 330,078 crore.
Read Govt to provide seamless automated services to taxpayers to boost revenue, says official document
VAT wing will contribute the lion share with Tk 127,745 crore and target for Income Tax and Tax on Profit has been set at Tk 104, 952 crore.
The revenue collection from import duty will be Tk 37, 907 crore, Tk 54,465 crore from from Supplementary Duty, Tk 56 crore from export duty, Tk 3825 crore from Excise Duty while Tk 1050 crore from other taxes and duties.
In the last fiscal (2020-21) the revised revenue target was Tk 301,000 crore while it was set Tk 330,000 in the main budget.
Also read: ‘Bangladesh economy shows signs of positive growth’ despite global recession
But the NBR could not attain the revised target mainly due to the ongoing pandemic that forced the government to impose various types of lockdown that hampered the economy a lot.
According to the available data the revenue collection in 2020-21 fiscal was Tk 41,000 crore less than the revised target while Tk 70,000 from the original target.
The collection was Tk 259,900 crore although the growth was 19 percent.
According to data, the tax to GDP ratio of the country has been 9.9 percent on an average since 2015-2019, while it is 19.8 percent for India, 23.9 percent for Nepal, 14.7 percent for Pakistan, 13.5 percent for Sri Lanka.
Read NBR directs big push to reach the revenue target for current fiscal
The ratio is 25.6% for developing countries and 35.9% for developed countries, according to the data.
The tax-to-GDP ratio is a ratio of a nation's tax revenue relative to its gross domestic product, the value of goods and services produced in a country during a certain period. The ratio is also a marker of how well the government controls a country's economic resources.
The document mentioned that due to increasing revenue deficit it is becoming tougher day by day for very necessary public expenditure financing in various sectors like infrastructure, health, education, water resources and social safety net.
It also said that in the banking sector especially in the public banks high rate of unrealised loans is creating pressure on eonomical situation of damaged banks and causing hurdles to collect deposit.
Read BUILD frets over budget deficit amid revenue collection struggles
On January 25, 2021 Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in Parliament said that there are more that 300,000 loan defaulters in various banks and financial institutions across Bangladesh.
As of October 2020, there were 334,982 loan defaulters across the country.
However, the amount of non-performing loans (NPLs) has gone down by Tk 17,737 crore.
As of September 2020, the amount outstanding loans stand at Tk 94,440.47 crore, per Bangladesh Bank data, the minister mentioned.
Also read: Coronavirus: Experts for prudent economic recovery plan for Bangladesh
Govt to provide seamless automated services to taxpayers to boost revenue, says official document
The government has taken several measures to provide seamless services to the taxpayers through automation and digitalisation of Income Tax, VAT and Customs Departments under the National Board Revenue (NBR), according to an official document.
The government believes that internal sources will be the main field of revenue collection for uninterrupted economic progress amid global economic stagnation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.
According to the document E-payment services have been initiated through establishment of necessary interfaces with the Bangladesh Bank for online payment of taxes.
Read: NBR directs big push to reach the revenue target for current fiscal
Now, the taxpayers can pay their returns from home at their convenience through their own bank accounts without physical presence at the premises of Bangladesh Bank or the state-run Sonali Bank.
As in every year, the major portion of the total budget expenditure will be mobilised from internal resources that will be collected by the NBR.
The target revenue collection for the running fiscal has been set Tk 330,078 crore.
Read Experts frustrated at NBR's role as calls for specific taxes on tobacco go unheeded
VAT wing will contribute the lion share with Tk 127,745 crore and target for Income Tax and Tax on Profit has been set at Tk 104, 952 crore.
The revenue collection from import duty will be Tk 37, 907 crore, Tk 54,465 crore from from supplementary duty, Tk 56 crore from export duty, Tk 3825 crore from excise duty while Tk 1050 crore from other taxes and other duties.
The target of internal revenue is set based on budget size. There are mainly two sources of revenues: NBR revenue, non-NBR revenue.
Read NBR faces uphill task in achieving VAT collection target
Almost 85 per cent of the total revenues is collected by the NBR. Although the main purpose of the NBR is to collect revenue, various types of tax exemption, reduction in rate or tax benefits have been given with respect to income tax, VAT and customs duty for the sake of industrialisation, employment generation, increase of business scope, protection of domestic industries, attraction of foreign investment and establishment of a just and equitable society.
The document stated that In spite of the fact that tax-GDP ratio is comparatively low, the revenue income has sustained growth every year.
However, it said that the apprehension remains that the economy will not return to normalcy in the coming financial year.
Read NBR moves to speed up revenue collection
The government has formulated our fiscal policy taking the COVID-19 pandemic, recession and instability of world trade and commerce into account.
“In consideration of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in business, in this budget the government put emphasis on protection of public health, employment creation and speeding up the pace of our economy along with revenue collection.”
Terming internal sources will be the main field of revenue collection for uninterrupted economic progress amid global economic stagnation, the document mentioned that Keeping the prevailing circumstances in mind, the government wants to bring the taxpayers under the tax net through reforms in tax systems, expansion of tax scope and motivating the taxpayers and all e-TIN holders to submit their annual tax returns voluntarily.
Read NBR to prioritize local industries in 2021-22 budget, says its chairman
The Income Tax Departments have already taken steps for return submission of non-filer companies.
BUILD frets over budget deficit amid revenue collection struggles
The proposed budget deficit is above 6% of GDP amounting to Tk 2.11 trillion, which may reach to 8% as the revenue collection has been showing slow trend in pandemic period, according to BUILD, a business development platform, in its budget reaction.
The Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) thinks the deficit will mainly be filled taking loan from the banking sector and foreign loan.
Also read: New budget unveiled with focus on protecting lives and livelihoods
The dependence on foreign financing has been increased 162% than previous fiscal which is 'alarming', it said.
The social safety net will be expanded, higher than the current fiscal. Government has given enough emphasis on health safety issues, which need proper implementation.
Also read: New budget: Tracking prices going up and down
In terms of export diversification in Medical and Personal Protective Equipment(MPPE), extension of tax exemption benefits up to June 2022 may encourage export diversification in this sector, BUILD said.
On the other hand, it seems, sluggish investment will continue as COVID uncertainty remains, and private sector credit growth is still at a lower level(8.7%), according to BUILD.