The National Board of Revenue faced a record revenue collection shortfall of Tk聽92,625 crore in the recently concluded financial year 2024-25.
NBR officials and economists said that the聽shortfall was mainly due to disruptions in business and trade in the first two months of FY25 due to the July聽uprising, followed by internal protests of the NBR officials in the last two months, especially in June of the financial year.
According to provisional data, the NBR collected Tk聽3,70,874 crore, which was about 3.08 per cent lower than Tk 3,82,678 crore in FY24.
The revised target for revenue collection was Tk聽463,500 crore in FY25, indicating a remaining gap of Tk聽92,625 crore.
In FY25, the NBR collected more than Tk聽1,00,198 crore from customs, Tk聽1,41,586 crore from VAT, and Tk聽1,29,090 crore from income tax, said the provisional data.
Meanwhile, according to a data shared by chief adviser press wing on Monday, the Chattogram Port Authority earned revenue of Tk 5,227 crore in FY25, which was 8.22 per cent higher from Tk 4,830 crore in FY24.
Apart from expenditure revenue of Tk 2,315 crore, the surplus revenue was Tk 2,913 crore.
In FY25, the authority contributed Tk 1,765 crore as payment to national exchequer.聽
In June of FY25, the NBR collected revenue of Tk 43,091 crore from its various revenue collection sectors, including customs, VAT, and income tax.
The revised target for revenue collection in June 2025 was Tk 69,039 crore. However, revenue collection in June 2025 decreased by 18.77 per cent from Tk 53,046 crore in June 2024.
For FY25, initially, the revenue collection target was set at Tk聽480,000 crore. Amid economic uncertainty, the target was later revised.
In FY24, the total revenue collection was Tk聽382,678 crore, against the target of Tk聽410,000 crore, resulting in a gap of approximately Tk聽27,000 crore.
The gap in revenue collection was about Tk聽38,000 crore in FY23, when the NBR collected Tk聽331,502 crore against a target of Tk聽370,000, according to the annual report of the Internal Resource Division of FY24.
Economists and NBR officials stated that back-to-back disruptions, including the political transition, protests by NBR employees, especially a complete shutdown in the last week of June, significantly hampered revenue collection.
Talking to 抖阴精品, Professor Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said that Bangladesh has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios globally.
鈥楾he lowest tax-to-GDP ratio is responsible for lower public expenditure, loan dependency of the government, and widening inequality,鈥� he added.
He stated that the higher dependency on indirect tax, about 60 per cent, was聽widening the inequality in society.
Moreover, due to its lower tax-GDP ratio, Bangladesh was gradually falling into a vicious cycle, which was impacting the social safety net, the cost of doing business, and the growth of the private sector.
He said that to raise the morale of NBR officials, an inclusive reform would be necessary, which could accelerate revenue collection.聽
鈥楾o reduce the deficit, we must close tax loopholes and ensure good governance by addressing zero tolerance on tax defaulters,鈥� he added.
He also urged for a comprehensive digitalisation of the tax sector along with administrative and institutional reforms.
For FY26, the govt set a revenue collection target of Tk 4,99,000 crore through the NBR, which was about 8 per cent of the total GDP.聽
While asking whether it was ambitious or not, Mustafizur said that the target was not ambitious; rather, there was a lack of initiative to collect revenues.
鈥業ndia has 17 per cent tax-GDP ratio, even Nepal has about 20 per cent, but we still on a vicious circle of 8 per cent,鈥� he added.
Earlier, Masrur Reaz, chairman and chief executive officer of Policy Exchange Bangladesh, told The 抖阴精品 that the July uprising and several subsequent movements, protests, and blockades also impacted the country鈥檚 supply chains in the following months.
Meanwhile, a deputy commissioner-level official of the NBR told 抖阴精品 that the uneasy situation at the NBR, created by the protests of officials, had significantly reduced.
He also said that the officials would work smoothly and were determined to fulfill the target of the current FY26.
