Kamal vows to raise tax-GDP ratio to 15pc in 2yrs

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has vowed to raise the tax-GDP ratio to 15 percent in two years from present 10 percent, a move that needs a lot of efforts and investments from the government to achieve.

In his budget speech today, the minister said, effective initiatives have already been taken to expand the Income Tax department.

With this expansion program, tax offices will be set up in every upazila in Bangladesh. At the field level, the number of Taxes Zone will be increased to 63 from existing 31. For making the tax administration more goal-oriented, job-oriented and taxpayer-friendly, the tax intelligence, investigation and enforcement unit; digital tax management unit; tax deduction management unit; tax information unit; international tax unit; taxpayer service, public relations and infrastructure unit; and tax dispute resolution unit will be set up, he said.

"I hope, with successful implementation of these initiatives, revenue on average will grow by 25 percent in the coming years, and the Tax-GDP ratio will increase to 15 percent by 2021," the minister said his budget speech.