Govt sets Tk5.41 lakh crore revenue collection target in FY25

The government has set a revenue collection target of Taka 5,41,000 crore in the proposed national budget for 2024-2025 fiscal (FY25).

Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali revealed the target while placing the national budget for FY25 at the Jatiya Sangsad today (6 June).

"Given all these reforms and initiatives to augment revenue collection, a total of Tk5,41,000 crore revenue income has been estimated for FY2024-25, which accounts for 9.7% of the GDP," he said.

It is proposed to collect Tk4,80,000 crore through the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Tk61,000 crore from other sources, Ali said.

He said under the leadership of the prime minister, the Awami League has formed the government for the fifth time and with the determination to take Bangladesh to the zenith of development in continuation of the legacy of the stunning economic development of Bangladesh over the past decade and a half.

The election manifesto of the government laid emphasis on a number of key things, which are containing inflation, ensuring employment for youth, building a modern and smart Bangladesh, developing agriculture and physical infrastructure, and fixing priorities on health and other sectors, he added. 

"Bearing in mind these priorities, a roadmap has been laid out in the budget for the next fiscal year to achieve our national development goals," said the finance minister.

To enhance domestic resource mobilisation and collection in the last fiscal year, Ali said, several steps were taken with the aim of building a modern, technology-driven, and more citizen-friendly tax payment and collection system. 

Moreover, he said, the NBR is undertaking analytical work with the aim of rationalising tax exemption and achieving targeted revenue collection in the medium term. 

In FY2009-10, the total tax revenue collection amounted to only Tk62,485 crore, which has increased nearly six-fold to Tk3,66,776 crore in FY2022-23. 

In the current FY2023-24, the revenue is expected to increase to Tk4,29,000 crore. "Strategy papers are being prepared to maintain the momentum of such growth rate and to achieve tax-GDP ratio over 10% in the medium term," the minister added.

Since approximately 87% of revenue comes from the sources of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the workforce of the board has been increased to further strengthen its activities. 

Besides, new income tax laws and customs laws have been enacted in 2023. 

The finance minister said the A-challan system has been introduced to ensure easy and direct deposit of revenue into government treasuries. 

"Plans are being prepared to increase the use of electronic fiscal devices gradually to enhance VAT collection. Furthermore, several procedural reforms are underway to improve the tax collection and payment methods," he added.

Ali said there is also a significant potential for increasing the non-tax revenue. In many cases, the rate at which non-tax revenue is collected is much lower against the services provided by the government. 

He said work is in progress to prepare a comprehensive database of the rates of all government services, and a pilot project has already been taken up with six ministries to incorporate the non-tax revenue rates in this database. 

"It is expected that as a result of all these initiatives, the target set for revenue collection, both in the short and medium terms, will be achieved." hoped the finance minister.