NBR awards 9 highest VAT-paying firms

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday awarded nine firms for paying the highest amounts of value-added tax (VAT) in fiscal year 2020-21.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal handed over the crests to representatives of the firms at an event at the InterContinental Dhaka in the capital city.

The tax administrator is giving the awards to encourage businesses to properly deposit indirect tax paid by consumers to the state coffer.

In the manufacturing sector, Olympic Industries, IBN SINA Pharmaceutical Industry Ltd and SMC Enterprise Limited won the awards, while in the services sector, Nagad, bKash and IFIC Bank bagged the awards. In the trading category, electronics giant Walton and supermarket chains Agora and Unimart received the awards.

There has been a continuous growth in revenue collection in the past two years despite the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war, NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem said at the event.

"Hopefully, this year too, the growing trend will continue," he added.

Md Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), said all eligible taxpayers should be brought under the tax net.

"Traders' allegations of harassment against VAT officials are not a pleasant thing as it slows down business and hurt the government's revenue income," he added.

The NBR has been making the names of top VAT depositing entities public in line with a policy framed in 2005 to encourage tax compliance among businesses.