Thursday November 21, 2024

Week long Income Tax Fair launched

Published : 01 Mar 2017, 15:57

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Week long Income Tax Fair has kicked off at the NBR Bhaban in the city's Agargaon today with a view to encouraging people to pay tax and bringing more people under tax net. Finance Minister AMA Muhith inaugurated the fair with a hope that the number of taxpayers would reach 25 lakh in the country by the end of fiscal year 2016-17 from existing 13 lakh as the government has taken steps to expand the tax net, reports BSS.

"We've got 3.5 lakh new taxpayers during the last four months of the current fiscal year. "There are eight more months and I am hopeful that the number of total taxpayers will reach 25 lakh at the end of the fiscal year," he said while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the week long Income Tax Fair at the NBR Bhaban in the city Agargaon today. Only 13 lakh people of a country of 16 crore population give tax and it is changing quickly, he said. Muhith said the country's revenue receipt and size of the budget are not enough compared to the neighbouring countries. "It is a matter of shame but we will be able to come out from this situation within the next two years," he said and announced that the size of the budget for the fiscal year 2018-19 will be Tk five lakh crore. State minister for finance and planning M A Mannan, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) president Abdul Matlub Ahmad, National Board of Revenue chairman Md Nojibor Rahman and NBR member and chief coordinator of the fair organizing committee Md Abdur Razzak, among other, spoke on the occasion.