Duty structure to be reduced gradually: NBR chairman

National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Abdur Rashid Khan on Tuesday said the country's overall duty structure is likely to be reduced in the coming days.

"We are moving towards the LDC graduation. We cannot impose duty at will anymore, so we will reduce this duty gradually," he said while speaking at a pre-budget meeting at the conference room of the Revenue Building.

The NBR chairman said the NBR is putting emphasis on income tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) as key areas for revenue collection.

"All customs issues should be targeted for trade facilitation, not for revenue collection," he said.

He said any duty reduction or imposition is done in the national interest.

"We will not increase duty just to boost revenue collection; it will be done for the protection of local industries and the national interest," he said.

Md Abdur Rashid Khan said the NBR is working to make the tax system more convenient for taxpayers.

"We will make sure that you will not be subject to oppression," he assured.

Regarding VAT rates, he said that if all business entities agreed, the NBR would move towards a single VAT rate.

He also assured that the corporate tax rate would be rationalised in the upcoming budget.

Speaking on tax file audits, the NBR chairman said audit selection for income tax and VAT files has been halted until the full automation of the system.

Once automation is completed audit selection will be conducted automatically using artificial intelligence, he added.