FBCCI urges NBR to ease tax burden on struggling businesses, stop customs bullying

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) has urged the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to refrain from pressuring or harassing businesses for paying taxes, particularly those that have faced financial setbacks due to the recent student movement and ongoing floods. 

The call was made during a meeting of the country's apex trade body with newly appointed NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan today.

The FBCCI, led by its President Md Mahbubur Rahman, also urged the NBR to base tax collection on business income rather than turnover (yearly sales), emphasising that turnover-based taxation requires businesses to pay higher taxes even when profits are low or they have incurred losses.

The trade body further addressed issues of harassment by customs officials and presented several demands to resolve these concerns.

Munir Hossain, vice president of FBCCI, who was also present at the meeting, told The Business Standard, "During July and August, the recent student-led movement, which later turned into a mass revolution, caused most businesses across the country to incur losses. Moreover, the ongoing flood situation in some districts further disrupted the supply chain, which has had a serious negative impact on business."

"In this challenging situation, we requested the NBR to approach tax and value-added tax (VAT) matters with leniency. Businesses that have incurred losses or made less profit should not be overburdened with VAT and taxes. 

"We raised this issue with the NBR chairman to ensure that businesses are not subjected to harassment," he added.

"The tax department is currently collecting taxes based on turnover. However, tax collection should be based on actual income or profit, as turnover tax is not an ideal system. We urged the NBR to take these concerns into consideration," he said.

A senior NBR official who attended the meeting, speaking on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the TBS about the business leaders' requests of scrapping the turnover tax system.

"Considering the losses incurred by businesses due to recent events [protests] and ongoing floods, the NBR chairman has viewed the request positively," he said.

"To address the business-related issues, he [the NBR chairman] emphasised forming task forces consisting of NBR officials and business leaders, so that all matters can be resolved quickly," the official added.

FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam, at the meeting, noted that harassment by customs officials in various customs houses has increased in recent times.

"Harassment has increased at customs houses regarding customs valuation by officials, and it needs to be minimised," the FBCCI president stated, according to his speech at the meeting, which the TBS has obtained.

"Real importers are being harassed under the pretext of misdeclaration, with fines imposed on them of up to 400%. We frequently receive such allegations from businesses," he added.

Hinting at dishonest officials, he said, "The NBR needs to identify those officials and hold them accountable, as their actions are leading to the misuse of rules and regulations."

In response, the NBR chairman encouraged business leaders to provide specific information about dishonest officials rather than making general accusations. He also urged businesses to operate with integrity.

The NBR chairman further announced plans to automate the tax audit process to reduce human involvement and prevent potential misuse. "Our team has been instructed to begin work on this, and the entire revenue management process will be gradually brought under automation," he said.

The FBCCI also demanded that future investments of black money be discontinued, harassment in the name of audits be eliminated, real trade facilitation measures be implemented, and the national single window (NSW) system be put into place within a short timeframe.