The rise in commodity prices in the global market meant that Bangladeshi importers had to bring them in at higher prices. But on the flip side, this also meant that the government raked in more revenue from the import duty.

The import duty growth was 20.53% in the first 9 months (July-March) of the fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22). This growth is more than the average growth of the last five years for the same period.

According to the latest figures released by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the revenue collection in the first nine months of fiscal 2021-22 increased by about 14.5% over the same period of the previous fiscal year.

The average growth in the last five years was 11.36%.

Although the volume of imports of goods and services has not increased much, additional revenue has been collected due to the increase in tariff prices.

A tariff price is a price at which the importer imports the goods. The tariff price is fixed by the customs officials after checking and sorting.

For example, in January earlier this year, the price of a product in Bangladeshi currency was Tk100. This is the tariff price of the product. On the other hand, the importer has to pay Tk20 as a customs duty.

In May, the price of the product was Tk120. This time it is the tariff price of that product. Then the importer has to pay a duty of Tk24.

In this case, he will have to pay additional duty of Tk4.

This Tk4 received in the five months interval is the additional income of the customs department.

Import figures

According to the latest calculations of the Bangladesh Bank, imports have increased by 43% in the first nine months of the current financial year.

According to NBR sources, in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, a total of Tk65,073 crore including import duty, value-added tax (VAT) and supplementary duty (SD) has been collected, which is Tk11,000 crore more than the same period last year.

Despite this, the NBR is not in a comfortable position because if the revenue collection increases at this pace, the government's target for the current financial year will not be achieved, economists and even the officials of the revenue department think.

Regarding custom duty growth, an NBR official, requesting anonymity, said: “The government has made big concessions to corporations over the last two years. Apart from this, VAT has been exempted in some sectors. Sugar and edible oil have been exempted from VAT. Otherwise, the growth in revenue collection would have been more.”

But even if this current pace is ensured, the revenue collection target will not be achieved in the next three months till June, in which case there may be a deficit of around Tk30,000 crore from the target.

In the meantime, the NBR is going to set a relatively large revenue target for fiscal year 2022-23.

Source: Dhaka Tribune