The government will introduce online tax submission system for top companies from the first day of next fiscal year, allowing banks, insurance companies, telecom and tobacco firms to submit their return without going through 'painful' hassles.
The large taxpayers unit (LTU) of the National Board of Revenue will launch the path-breaking system with nearly 1,000 companies and individuals expected to reap the benefits in the first year, officials said Saturday.
"Large taxpayers can submit online tax returns from July 1," LTU tax commissioner Mohammad Alauddin told the FE. "The aim is to provide a hassle free and tax-friendly environment for the country's top companies, chamber leaders and some individuals who account for more than 37 per cent of the total income tax," he said.
He said the LTU would dis patch a special team to the companies from the first week of July to help the big taxpayers adapt to the new system. "We will provide a PIN (personal identification number) to each of the large taxpayers to maintain privacy and update their tax files as per the NBR's rules and regulations," he added.
Acceptance and acknowledgement of tax returns will be delivered through online, he said, adding that the new system would make sure that the taxpayers won't need any 'middle-men' to submit their papers to the NBR.
The move follows a pledge by finance minister AMA Muhith in his June 11 budget speech that the government would launch the online tax return system in an effort to remove hassles the taxpayers endure while submitting their returns.
The country's top chambers and business bodies have over the years made complaints to the authorities that they face "unnecessary and unimaginable" hassles such as 'forced bribes' during submission of their tax returns.
Experts have pointed that these "painful hassles" are one of the key reasons why the country's companies and top earning individuals very often feel shy to pay their taxes. Only 700,000 people paid income tax last year, with the country's tax-GDP ratio hovering around 8.5 per cent, the lowest in Asia.
A top tax official said initially the new online tax return would be allowed for the taxpayers who have sophisticated software system in their offices. "We hope taxpayers would find the system easy and we won't have to listen to their complaints about harassment by taxmen anymore," he said.
NBR will gradually expand the system in all its tax offices across the country, the official added. There are around 281 companies and 720 individuals under the LTU, which was launched in 2003 following advice by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The LTU has in the past six years brought under its fold the country's top companies and individuals who now contribute more than one-third of the total income taxes although they make up only 0.06 per cent of the total taxpayers. The NBR collected income tax worth Tk 40.42 billion against a target of Tk 38.85 billion from the large taxpayers.
-Financial Express
