The revenue collection has witnessed a record 14.55 per cent growth in the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22), thanks to the upswing in the economic activities.
"It is really encouraging for us that the revenue collection is increasing. We're hopeful that the overall revenue mobilization would continue to increase in line with our target of the budget," said an official of the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
Although the NBR started the fiscal year with a shortfall in revenue collection due to the Corona pandemic, it could reduce the deficit at the end of July-August period as the corona-hit economy began to bounce back after the withdrawal of the lockdown, said the NBR official.
In the first month (July) of FY22, the total collection deficit including income tax, value added tax (VAT) and customs was Tk 7,227.75 crore. But in the second month (August), the revenue collection has achieved 24.59 per cent growth. As a result, the deficit has come down to Tk 5,210 crore against the target, according to the provisional data of NBR statistics department.
According to the NBR, in the two months of the fiscal year 2021-22 (July-August), the collection of income tax, VAT and customs was Tk 10,002. 93 lakh, Tk 12, 964.03 crore and Tk 11, 581.75 crore, respectively.
The total collection in the three areas was Tk 34,548.98 crore. The growth is 14.55 percent. In the last financial year (FY21), Tk 30,160.64 crore was collected in July-August period.
An NBR official said the revenue collection during Corona pandemic suffered a setback mainly due to slow economic activities. But now the participation of people in economic activities is increasing. Import-export has also become normal, he added.
"We've also geared up revenue collection. Besides, a number of positive initiatives of the NBR have further increased the pace of revenue collection. The NBR wants to continue this trend in the coming days," he added.
Earlier, the NBR had ended the fiscal year 2020-21 with a revenue deficit of Tk 41,117.20 crore.
In the budget of the current financial year 2021-2022, the target of total revenue collection is Tk 3,89,000 crore. Of the amount, NBR has been tasked to collect Tk 3,30,000 crore.
Of the total target of NBR, it is expected that Tk 1,28,873 crore will come from value added tax or VAT, Tk 1,05,475 crore from income tax and travel tax, and Tk 95,652 crore from import duty.
