Kamal sets sights on raising taxpayers’ number to 1 crore

The government will bring all eligible taxpayers under the tax net, said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

There are 4 crore people in the country who are included in the middle income group. However, the number of taxpayers is only 21-22 lakh.

"We will take the number to one crore at the earliest possible time," he said, adding that efforts to bring the rest of the citizens under the tax net will continue.

He said a culture has been established in the revenue domain for a long time that those who pay taxes to the government, only continue to do so every year. Others, despite having taxable income, continue to evade payment of taxes.

"We also want to get out of this bad culture. All eligible taxpayers will be brought under the tax net."

Kamal said the government is against imposing tax as a burden on taxpayers in any way.

"Our policy in tax collection will somewhat follow a statement by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the Finance Minister in the court of King Louis (XIV) of France:

"The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest [number] of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing."