Latest NBR offer to legalise in Bangladesh

The latest offer of the government to legalise undisclosed money has got poor response with only 92 individuals availing of it so far, tax officials said. The amount of untaxed incomes disclosed until August 14 was only Tk 3.39 crore, National Board of Revenue chairman Abdul Mazid said on Tuesday. Many others have undisclosed but legally earned money in their possession, but they are not showing up in fear of the nemesis of moneyed people due to crackdown against corruption and tax evasion, he said at a press briefing. Admitting the lukewarm response, the top revenue official said they had information that many people were preparing to disclose their hidden money in their tax returns to be submitted this year. ‘We hope to see a good chunk of undisclosed money disclosed by taxpayers in their current year’s tax returns to avert penalty, while the rest of the money could be legalised by paying penalty,’ Mazid said. Finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam in his budget speech for 2008-09 fiscal year said undisclosed money could be legalised from July to October by paying 7.5 per cent penalty in addition to regular taxes. The offer was second of its kind since the present interim government took office in January last year. The NBR chairman warned that their drive against tax-dodgers would continue even during the given period of voluntary disclosures. ‘Let me confirm you that we did not stop our drive — it is going on and will be continued with stronger tools,’ he said. The revenue top boss claimed success in a series of his visits to upazilas to motivate the eligible people to pay taxes. The campaign brought 9,778 new taxpayers in July alone. He spelt out the NBR’s two-pronged strategy —– motivating people to pay tax voluntarily and hunting down the tax-dodgers —, which, he said, would go hand in hand. The revenue authority took up various steps, including introduction of one-stop service, to simplify the tax payment system. ‘Taxpayers will be able to pay taxes online without any hassle once the NBR goes for total automation,’ he said.