The National Board of Revenue (NBR) for the first time is going to honour 20 highest taxpayers with 'tax cards' to recognise their compliance and consistency in paying taxes.

The tax authority has already finalised a list of top taxpayers, including 10 companies, to motivate more people to pay taxes so the government can mobilise more funds domestically for financing its annual budget.

A list of the selected taxpayers has already been sent to a ministerial committee on national award for a final approval, said an official of the NBR.

However, many leading taxpayers, including companies and individuals, could not make foray into the list due to cases pending in courts.

"We want to encourage people to pay more taxes by awarding the tax cards. We will honour those taxpayers who are not loan defaulters or tax defaulters and have no criminal or tax cases pending at courts," said MA Quader Sarker, member in charge of tax administration and monitoring of the NBR.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to hand over the tax cards on May 26 through a programme.

These top taxpayers will enjoy some privileges while making a reservation for seats in state-run airlines, trains and water transports.

They will also be able to use the lounge for commercially important persons (CIP) at the airports.

They along with their family members will easily get cabins at government hospitals. The card holders will also be invited to various government functions.

The NBR initiative comes in line with its efforts to increase revenue through various ways including encouraging existing and prospective taxpayers to pay taxes. In the last four years, the revenue administration has been observing income tax day.

The NBR also started organising tax fairs to encourage people to submit tax returns and get tax identification number (TIN) without hassle. Also, the tax administration began honouring the long-time and highest taxpayers from city corporations and districts.

To give a mental boost to the taxpayers further, the authority framed a policy in 2010 to honour the highest taxpayers by giving them the tax cards with one-year tenure.

In line with the policy, taxpayers, having criminal cases under trial in court, default loans and income tax and value added tax related cases pending in court will not be eligible for the honour.

Chevron Bangladesh Block 12 Ltd, Sylhet Gas Ltd, Citibank NA, American Life Insurance Company, Trust Bank, Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh), Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority, Jamuna Bank, AK Khan & Co, and Bapex Ltd have become the top taxpayers.

In the individual category, a Rangpur-based businessman, Md Motazzaroul Islam, topped all in the tax payment records of the revenue board.

Others include Iqbal Haider Chowdhury, Haji Kauch Mia, MM Amjad Hossain, Md Yusuf, M Haider Hossain, Md Motahar Hossain, Salahuddin Kasem Khan, M Ziauddin Khan and Liala Hossain.

During the last several years, the tax authority has been recording increasing amount of revenue. Total revenue collection rose 27 percent to Tk 79,092 crore during the fiscal 2010-11 from Tk 62,042 crore the previous year.

During the July-March period of the current fiscal year, NBR earnings increased by 18 percent to Tk 62,737 crore from Tk 53,107 crore in the same period a year ago.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 7th May 2012