Biz-Econ

Tax fair ends, NBR collects record Tk 2129 cr as income tax

The week long income tax fair 2016 ended on Monday after witnessing a huge response from taxpayers with a record revenue collection.The seven-day fair managed to collect Tk 2129.68 crore as income tax, compared to Tk 2,035.32 crore last year.The National Board of Revenue (NBR) organised the fair for the 7th consecutive year as an effort to expand tax net and increase revenue collection.The NBR will also observe the National Income Tax Day on November 30, according to a news agency.According to the NBR data, around 9,28,973 visitors received services compared to 758,000 last year and 194598 submitted returns.The last day’s collection was Tk 401.96 crore and income tax returns submitted by 44,608 taxpayers, while 1, 51,775 people received services on the day.‘Availability of easy services and awareness campaigns helped the fair get huge response,’ said an NBR official.The special feature of the fair, which attracted a huge number of people to income tax fair, was its one-stop services including registration of electronic taxpayer identification number (eTIN), submission of income tax returns and online payment facilities.The fair was organised in divisional headquarters for all seven days and in district headquarters for four days. The fair was held in 29 upazilas for two days and one-day mobile fair was held in 57 upazilas.The NBR organised a closing ceremony at its Agargaon building venue.Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam attended the closing ceremony as chief guest while principal secretary to the Prime Minister Md Abul Kalam Azad, senior secretary of the Public Administration Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury and senior secretary of finance division Mahbub Ahmed were present as special guest.NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman presided over it.