Stop harassment first to get VAT, tax: FBCCI president

FBCCI President Md Mahbubul Alam today decried the alleged harassment of businesses by field-level revenue officials, stating that entrepreneurs are willing to pay income taxes and value-added tax (VAT) but are discouraged by such practices.

"Businessmen express the willingness to pay taxes and VAT, but when faced with difficulties, they tend to retract," he said during a seminar on VAT Day and VAT Week 2023 organised by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) at its Dhaka headquarters.

Finance Secretary Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder at the event said, "There has been an ease in inflation last month, and it is likely to decrease further in the current month. By the end of the fiscal year, inflation will fall below 7%.

At the programme, the NBR honoured the top VAT-paying companies at the national level for their contributions in 2022.

The president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) said the tax and VAT officers should not harass businessmen by taking their documents and machines, such as computers or similar equipment.

"We request the NBR to ensure that businessmen are not harassed. Give us the opportunity to do business without harassment. If there is no harassment, we can assure you that we will pay all taxes and VAT," he asserted.

He mentioned, "Maybe 1–2% of businesses hide business information, but with compliance and automation, businesses will come out of it too."

Referring to the challenges businesses face, the president of the country's apex trade body stated, "We are struggling a lot; even in the midst of this, businesses are doing business."

"NBR was supposed to provide 10 lakh electronic fiscal devices (EFD), but so far only 16,000 have been distributed among businesses," he said, emphasising the need to expand the scope of VAT at the upazila level and promote automation.

Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, chairman of Pran-RFL Group, highlighted that the development of local industrialisation can be attributed to tax breaks.

He stated, "The establishment of the home appliance industry in the country is a result of these tax breaks. You give us incentives, and we will return."

In the event, some former NBR officials criticised the current NBR policies. Abdul Mannan Shikder, a recent past member of the NBR, stated that the taxes paid are not refunded promptly.

It takes six months to process the refund, a time frame he considers too long. He emphasised the burden of taxes, leading to an increase in both taxes and product prices.

Addressing the issue of delayed full automation at the NBR, he mentioned, "If one has to visit the office after submitting tax or VAT returns online, it defeats the purpose of automation. Partial automation does not yield benefits."

During the event, NBR officials stressed the importance of increasing government spending on revenue collection.

At this time, a comparative picture of tax rates is drawn for several countries, showing that in Bangladesh, the expenditure rate is the lowest. For every Tk100 collected in revenue, only Tk0.19 is spent.

NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem presided over the seminar.

At the seminar, Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh criticised onion sellers, labelling their actions as "irresponsible business," and pointed out their exploitation of the situation following the extension of the Indian onion export ban, which nearly doubled the onion prices in the local market overnight.

He suggested the need for a seasonal tariff arrangement, saying, "We suspend imports in the interest of the farmers. However, going forward, we need to adopt a seasonal tariff system to maintain our import opportunities. At times, tariffs will be imposed, sometimes not, but import opportunities have to be preserved."

"Earlier, we saw a decrease in potato and egg prices after allowing import opportunities," he added.

Nine businesses honoured as top VAT payers  

Representatives of nine businesses were awarded recognition for their significant contributions as leading VAT contributors in 2022.

In the manufacturing sector, Olympic Industries Chief Financial Officer Mohammad Harun-Al-Rashid, UniMed UniHealth Pharmaceuticals Chairman M Mosaddek Hossain, and General Pharmaceuticals Deputy Managing Director Sakibul Haq received the award.

In the business category, Rayhan Mohammad, managing director of Walton Plaza (Chandna, Gazipur), Murtoza Zaman, CEO of Unimart, and Syed Ahamed Talukder, Chairman of HAMKO Corporation, received the award.

In the service category, Kamal Quadir of bKash, Mohammad Ashraful Alam, CEO of Brac-Aarong, and Tanvir A Mishuk, managing director of Nagad, received the award.