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DHAKA, Nov 17, 2024 (BSS) – National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan today said that steps would be taken to streamline the tax procedures for the ease of taxpayers.

He also mentioned that measures would be taken to address gold smuggling and ensure fair pricing of essential goods.

The NBR chairman was speaking at a press briefing after inaugurating a passenger service help desk at the customs of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport today.

He underscored discrepancies in the volume of gold within the country compared to its official import records.

Regarding import of gold, he said a ‘grey’ area remains. 

In jewellery shops, the NBR chairman said there is no scarcity of gold and gold import is legal, but the import statistics showed that the volume of import is very small. “This issue also has to be regulated,” he added.

“We’ll try to regulate it and also try to amend the baggage rules while the barriers in import would be addressed,” he said.

About smuggling, he said that they would sit with Civil Aviation Authority chairman and if necessary, tough law would be enacted to bring those aircraft authorities to book which are being used for gold smuggling and those authorities would have to take responsibility.

If needed, efforts would be there to ban those airlines and their route permits would be revoked after reviewing the law he said, adding, “The gist is that we’ll have to restore discipline in all areas … in cooperation of all, we’ll establish all the rules and regulations in all areas”. 

Rahman, also the secretary of the Internal Resources Division (IRD) Division, said they have taken initiatives to gradually bring all of its operations under digital platform so that the service seekers need not to come to the NBR offices as well as to bring down the physical visits of the taxpayers at the tax offices at the lowest level.

The NBR chairman also announced plans to launch a mobile application next year for submitting tax returns, marking a step toward to complete automation of the tax payment process.

To make tax payments more accessible, debit and credit card transactions have been facilitated, he said, adding, “For payments below Taka 25,000 via cards, the processing fee will be Taka 20, while for amounts above this threshold, the maximum fee will be Taka 50."

Rahman also noted that all corporate tax returns would be brought online by next year.

Ahead of the Holy Month of Ramadan, the NBR focuses on keeping prices of key commodities stable.

The chairman assured that steps are being taken to ensure reasonable prices for essential items like potatoes, onions, and sugar.

To further ease consumer burden, he said that the government is likely to reduce duties on dates shortly.

He pointed out that sugar prices are now within the reach of commoners, thanks to a double reduction in tariffs, while import duties on eggs have already been lowered. 

However, rising international prices for soybean and palm oil have pushed edible oil prices higher in local markets.

Over the last few months, the NBR chairman said the customs department has undertaken a good number of measures to improve the service delivery for passengers like there are no long queues for completing customs procedures and the passengers are not harassed.

He said through the launching of this help desk, the passengers would get all sorts of services without any hassle.

In this year, e-return submission for individual taxpayers has been made compulsory he said, adding that the loopholes in this system are being amended every now and then. “The e-return submission system would be made more user-friendly next year,” he added.

From next year, he said mobile app would be launched for submitting e-returns and from next year, the submission of corporate tax returns would be made online fully.