NBR sees 15.27% growth in 10 months of FY22

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has collected Tk 2,27,756.59 crore in revenues in the 10 months (July-April) of the current 2021-22 financial year — marking a 15.27 per cent growth compared to the same period last fiscal year.

However, to achieve this fiscal’s target, NBR will have to collect Tk 1,02,243.41 crore in the last two months (May and June), which is nearly impossible as it is lagging far behind.

In FY2021-22, NBR was given a revenue target of Tk 3,30,000 crore, which is 55 per cent of the Tk 6,03,681 crore budget. The government’s total revenue target was Tk 3,89,000 crore in this fiscal.

During the July-April period, NBR collected Tk 84,916.56 crore through VAT (value added tax), showing a 10.59 per cent growth compared to last fiscal, and Tk 69,110.28 crore via income tax, showing a 16.35 per cent growth.

To achieve the target, NBR will have to attain a 30.98 per cent collection growth in the last two months of this fiscal — which, officials concerned think, is not doable.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Customs, which operates under NBR, is enjoying the benefit of the price hikes of goods in the international market as the rising import costs are also boosting the collection of customs duties.

During the July-April period, customs has collected Tk 73,060 crore through import duties, VAT, supplementary duties and others — which is Tk 11,928.37 crore or 19.51 per cent more than the amount collected in the same period of last fiscal.

Moreover, there has been no such growth in such a period in the last decade.

The NBR is generally the largest provider of funding in every year’s national budget. It provides 85 per cent of the total funding from VAT, income tax and import duties. The highest amount of 39 per cent comes from VAT.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is set to table a Tk 6,78,064 crore budget for FY2022-23 in parliament on June 9, with a projected GDP size of Tk 44,12,849 crore and a Tk 2,45,064 crore deficit.

NBR will be charged with collecting Tk 3,70,000 crore out of the government total revenue target of Tk 4,33,000 crore in the next fiscal.