Home ›› 07 Apr 2023 ›› Corporate
The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) has recommended a comprehensive, integrated and end-to-end digitisation process in NBR for overall tax management so that the hassles faced by the taxpayers are minimised.
The recommendation was made at a pre-budget discussion for FY2023-24 organised by the ICMAB at its Ruhul Quddus Auditorium in Dhaka on Tuesday, read a press release.
ICMAB President Md Abdur Rahman Khan, in his speech, said the vision of the institute is fully aligned with the vision of the Father of the Nation and her competent daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to help Bangladesh become an industrialised, developed and smart nation.
He informed that like the previous year, the ICMAB submitted a set of 62 proposals to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on February 16. Many of its proposals were for increasing tax revenue.
The ICMAB also suggested that audit of tax returns should be selected on the basis of automated system based on revenue risk analysis for ensuring transparency and eliminating unnecessary harassment of the compliant taxpayers.
It also put emphasis on restoring basic philosophy of income tax by eliminating the existing discriminatory laws and regulations that significantly changed the basic characteristics of direct taxation system in Bangladesh.
The institute suggested allowing the minimum tax paid by the compliant taxpayers during the loss-making period to be allowed as a tax credit against the tax payable in the profit-making years in future.
Ranjan Kumar Bhowmik, former member (tax) of the NBR, presented a paper on “Income Tax Proposal” while Md Kausar Alam, secretary of the ICMAB, presented a paper on “Customs and VAT Proposal” in the programme.
Both of them suggested amendments to Income Tax Law and VAT Law for improving tax compliance, expansion of tax net and for attracting local and foreign investments for the overall growth of the economy. Many of the proposals were related to the increase of tax revenue.
Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha, professor of the Department of Economics, Dhaka University, TIM Nurul Kabir, executive director of the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Shamsul Huq Zahid, editor of The Financial Express, gave emphasis on digitalisation and proper monitoring and evaluation to increase the tax net.
They said the worldwide economic crisis created because of the twin effect of Covid-19 and Ukraine-Russian war, may affect Bangladesh badly.
So the country has to tackle the crisis prudently in combatting the challenge of containing high inflation and creation of new employment, they said.
The discussants also raised concern that the tax-GDP ratio is very low compared to other developing countries of the world which warrants the urgent attention of the policymakers. The proper management of the exchange rate is also another crucial area of concern, they added.
Financial Institutions Division Secretary Sheikh Mohammad Salim Ullah, who was the chief guest at the event, said the budget expenditure size is determined first in the government budget preparation process. Then, financing is addressed taking multi-faceted macro-economic, fiscal and monetary conditions into consideration.
The policymakers have to consider cross-cutting issues such as macro-economic factors, fiscal policy and monetary policy in determining the budget size, he said, adding that often the policymakers are required to strike balance between increasing tax-GDP ratio vs attracting foreign and local investment for creation of employment by offering tax exemptions.
Nevertheless, there is still ample scope to increase revenue collection by improving efficiency of tax administration by digitising the entire business process of the NBR through which efficiency and integrity of revenue officials will be improved significantly, he added.
Mohammad Salim, former president and chairman, Seminar and Conference Committee, delivered the welcome statement and Md Akhtaruzzaman, treasurer of the ICMAB, offered the vote of thanks. Arif Khan, council member, former president, ICMAB, conducted the discussion session.
The discussion was vibrant and interactive with the active participation of the discussants. A good number of ICMAB members from home and abroad attended the event in person and through the virtual platform.
