The National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) revenue collection fell a record Tk 85,000 crore short of its target in 2019-20 FY.
Growth was also negative as NBR could not collect the same amount of revenue in 2019-20 as it did in 2018-19.
According to the NBR's provisional estimates, in the 2019-20 fiscal year, NBR’s revenue collection amounted to Tk 2,15,000 crore against the revised target of Tk 3,00,500 crore, which was Tk 8,492 crore less than the previous fiscal year. In the 2018-19 FY, the revenue collection was at Tk 2,23,892 crore.
Accordingly, growth decreased by 3.79 percent and the deficit was less than 28.29% of the target.
According to the data, in the last financial year, the highest amount of revenue collected was from VAT (Value Added Tax). The total VAT collected was Tk 81,600 crore, revenue collection from income tax was at Tk 73,200 crore and Tk 60,600 crore was collected from customs duty.
Whereas in the financial year 2018-19, VAT collection was at 87,610 crore, income tax collection was at Tk 72,900 crore and customs duty was at Tk 63,382 crore.
According to NBR sources, there was a negative growth in revenue in the 1975-76 financial year. At that time, political instability in the country had a serious impact on revenue. However, revenue did not grow negatively in the following years.
A senior NBR official, who did not want to be named, said Revenue collection usually increases at the end of the financial year, especially in May and June. But the outbreak of the coronavirus had led to a collapse in revenue collection.
