Home ›› 11 Dec 2021 ›› Front
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has honoured nine organisations for paying the highest VAT.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal handed over awards to the organisations on Friday.
The awardees are Aristopharma, Square Toiletries, Maya Bidi Factory, SM Motors, AMCO Bajaj International, MABS Union Motors, edotco, Grey Advertising Bangladesh, and Robert Bosch (Bangladesh).
Speaking on the occasion, Kamal said the government was spending taxes on the development of the disadvantaged communities and infrastructure.
He said eligible taxpayers should participate in the country’s development by paying taxes.
The minister called on businessmen to become taxpayers out of their religious and social responsibilities. But he also urged NBR officials to ensure that taxpayers did not face additional pressure.
Explaining the need to pay VAT, he said, “Your neighbours have a right to your wealth. That is why tax has been in place since the beginning of Islam.”
“With this VAT money, efforts are on to bring the disadvantaged communities into the mainstream economy.”
Instructing NBR officials to pay attention to the protection of taxpayers, the minister said it would not be right to impose more taxes on those who had been paying taxes for a long time.
He said those who were not yet paying taxes should be included in the tax net.
“Many are afraid to start paying taxes. This fear must be eliminated. It is a religious duty and we need to make them understand this.”
Noting that the government had made unprecedented progress in the last 12 years, he said this achievement was more than a fairy tale.
“Revenue earnings were only Tk 44,131 crore in the financial year 2005-06, which increased to Tk 3,28,598 crore in 2020-21. This gives an idea of our economic progress, but we have to go further ahead,” he added.
NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem told the programme businessmen want tax exemptions.
“But NBR officials say those enjoying tax exemptions should be brought under the tax net. Both statements are logical, but we need to pay more attention to widening the tax net,” he said.
He added that this problem would be solved by reducing the tax rates and widening the tax net.
