Paying income taxes online

Paying Income Tax is one of most cumbersome and embarrassing jobs in Bangladesh. Though the National Bureau of Revenue (NBR) at different times expressed its good intention to make the system of tax return simplified but people are to depend still on the middlemen of the system. These middle men are the income tax lawyers and at times the officials of the Income Tax office itself.

Income Tax office is one of the most corrupt offices in Bangladesh. TIB should make an inquiry into the corruption of the Income Tax offices in Bangladesh. Once a Tax official was making comment to me when I had to face him on assessment of my income, ‘You are lucky as you can pay the taxes to the state. But we are not as we can’t pay taxes.’ He can’t pay the taxes not because of his low income but because of his unseen source of income. By the way, his children were studying in an expensive English Medium School of the city.

The NBR is thinking of introducing online tax payment system. It is a modern idea and in the developed countries people pay their taxes online. But this may be a simple utopian idea of the chief of NBR as what I have seen in the Tax offices are piles of files stacked over one another in the rooms and there is no attempt to computerize the data and on the other hand the bosses are enjoying TV in their rooms but a computer may serve them better. What is the utility of TV in their office rooms?

On my personal assessment, a good portion of tax payers’ money lost in the system.

NBR may utilize different professional groups to better collection of the taxes from them. A sort of rapport should have to be developed between NBR and different professional and business groups.

One thing the NBR should avoid is double taxation -VAT and Income Tax on the same income.

The other thing NBR can introduce is cutting taxes at source.Though it is in practice but there is scope to extend the areas. Here again , double taxation must be avoided.

It is good that NBR is thinking of collecting tax return online. But they must be serious and try to simplify the tax system and make it corruption free. […]

An ordinary citizen