Muhith wants a fixed day for income tax payment by 2018

Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Thursday instructed the National Board Revenue to work for introduction of a ‘fixed day’ for submission of income tax returns by the taxpayers.
‘I want to declare a tax day fixed for the whole country as the deadline for filing income tax returns by 2018,’ he said while inaugurating a three-day winter income tax fair, the first of its kind, at the Officers’ Club in Dhaka.
The revenue board arranged the winter tax fair at eight venues, including two in Dhaka, at seven divisional cities to facilitate the taxpayers for filing income tax returns and obtaining electronic taxpayer identification number smoothly.
The other venues for the fair are the premises of the income tax commissioners’ offices in Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barisal and Rangpur, and income tax zone-9 at Uttara in Dhaka.
At the programme, the Internal Resources Division of the finance ministry awarded four investors, including three from a family, Commercially Important Person cards recognising their contributions to the economy through making the highest investments in US Dollar Premium Bond and US Dollar Investment Bond schemes.
The CIP awardees are Zainul Haque Sikder, Monowara Sikder, Rick Haque Sikder and Md Aftab Hossain.
Muhith said that the one-day deadline would not be extended in any way and the government may declare the day as public holiday so that taxpayers can pay tax and file tax returns in a festive mood.
He said that taxpayers in many countries like USA submit their tax returns on the specific day.
‘In USA, a day on around April 15 is fixed for the purpose and it has been going on over the years. We should also think like this,’ he said.
Income tax officials, however, said that it would not be easy to introduce a specific day for returns submission in a country like Bangladesh where the rate of tax compliance and awareness among the general taxpayers is lower and facilities of the tax offices are not adequate.
The government will have to ensure tax benefits and other facilities before introduction of fixed tax day to encourage people to accept the decision, they said.
The finance minister also asked the revenue board for further simplifying the income tax returns forms so that taxpayers can fill up tax forms by themselves and pay tax easily.
Tax returns forms should be made further easier as many taxpayers still find the return forms complex and face hassle in tax payment, he said.
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan Papon said the tax fair has been gaining popularity as it ensures a friendly atmosphere through providing one stop service to taxpayers.
Terming the total number of taxpayers insignificant, he said that at least 1.20 crore people should pay income tax as there is 7 per cent of total population in the country who earn more than US$ 400 a month.
NBR chairman Md Nojibur Rahman said that the tax authority was trying to increase the number of taxpayers to achieve its revenue target instead of imposing more tax on the existing taxpayers.
The fair will remain open from 10am to 5pm every day.

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