‘November VAT collection thru EFD unsatisfactory’

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) collected Tk 32.29 crore in November this year, which is 6 per cent higher than Tk 30.40 crore in October, through the value-added tax (VAT) machines installed at various retail outlets in Dhaka and Chattogram.

The earnings came through 8,399 Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) and Sales Data Controllers (SDCs) installed at five VAT commissionerates in the districts.

Meanwhile, the issuing of invoices through the devices declined by 1 per cent to 31.71 lakh in November. It was 31.89 lakh in October.

NBR revealed these data on Monday at the Electronic Fiscal Device Management System (EFDMS) lottery programme held at its headquarters in Dhaka.

At the event, NBR Member (VAT implementation and IT) Moinul Khan said, “The overall performance of the commissionerates is not satisfactory even though revenue collection through EFDs has increased a little bit.”

He urged the field officials to improve retail sector monitoring to prevent VAT evasion by anyone. At the same time, they must increase close surveillance of the potential sectors. “Officials cannot become sloppy,” he stressed.

“However, since the overall VAT collection has risen through the EFDs we can say that the process is very effective,” Moinul added.

During Monday’s event, NBR held a draw of its 23rd lottery of the EFD-generated invoices against purchases made by consumers throughout November. The first and second winners, who were not named, received Tk 1 lakh and Tk 50,000, respectively, as prize money.

Also, five consumers were awarded Tk 25,000 as the third prize, while 94 others won the fourth prize worth Tk 10,000 each.

The lottery draw is held every month based on the previous month’s challans. NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem inaugurated the EFDMS on August 25, 2019. Later, on February 5, 2020, the revenue board launched the lottery system to motivate customers to provide VAT through EFDs.