Govt raises NBR’s revenue collection target by Tk55,000 crore
A senior NBR official said the board is already well behind the current target, making the additional Tk55,000 crore “unattainable”.
In an unusual mid-year move, the government has raised the 2025-26 fiscal year revenue target by Tk55,000 crore, lifting it from Tk4.99 lakh crore to Tk5.54 lakh crore.
The new figure marks an 11% increase over the existing goal, an NBR official said on Tuesday.
The official also informed that the finance ministry has already directed the revenue authority to pursue the higher target.
Following this, the NBR has assigned higher collection targets to its field offices, the official said.
The government raised the target to curb the fiscal deficit and accommodate rising expenditure, the officer added.
NBR data shows that revenue collection in the first four months of FY26 (July-October) rose by just under 16% year-on-year.
However, collections lagged the target for the period by Tk17,219 crore.
Sector-wise breakdown
Under the revised FY26 revenue target, the NBR must now collect Tk4,34,522 crore over the remaining eight months.
Under the previous target, the NBR was expected to collect Tk362,303 crore during this period, meaning the revised plan adds over Tk72,000 crore in additional revenue obligations.
Earlier on 20 November, the NBR’s Research and Statistics Wing directed its field offices to submit sector-wise collection plans and prepare month-by-month targets.
Sectors facing higher targets
The revised target for import and export duties is Tk144,040 crore, up from Tk129,740 crore, a rise of Tk14,300 crore.
Similarly, the combined VAT and income tax target has been increased by Tk20,350 crore.
Previously set at Tk184,630 crore, the target for these two categories has now been raised to Tk204,980 crore.
In the first four months of the fiscal year, the NBR collected Tk34,751 crore from import-export duties, Tk46,878 crore from domestic VAT, and Tk37,849 crore from income and travel taxes.
Domestic VAT posted the highest growth at 24.78%, followed by 4.53% growth in customs duty and 16.11% growth in income tax.
However, none of the sectors achieved their respective targets.
In October alone, revenue grew by 2.22%, with Tk28,473 crore collected compared to Tk27,854.39 crore in the same month last year.
During October, customs revenue saw a negative growth of 16.09%, while VAT grew by 10.76% and income tax by 9.98%.
A senior NBR official said the board is already well behind the current target, making the additional Tk55,000 crore “unattainable”.
He noted that revenue targets are routinely missed, and this year’s election, combined with weak economic momentum, will make collections even more challenging.
Dr Mustafa K Mujeri, executive director of the Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development (InM), called the revised revenue target for the NBR “unrealistic”, noting that the agency had already fallen short in the first four months of the fiscal year.
“The country’s economy is on a downtrend. Production, imports, and investment are low, and the overall economy is sluggish,” he said on Tuesday.
Dr Mujeri, also the former chief economist of Bangladesh Bank, added that the government seems to have raised the revenue target mainly to address the budget deficit on paper.
“Achieving the original revenue target was already difficult, as the NBR misses its targets almost every year. Under the current conditions, meeting the revised target is even less likely,” he added.
Data shows that over the past 25 years, the government has raised the revised revenue target only once - under the military-backed caretaker government in FY08.
That year, revenue collection surpassed the target by nearly 27%, marking the highest recorded growth, while in all other years, revised targets were either unchanged or lowered.
NBR statistics show that average revenue growth over the past five years has remained around 15%.
Officials say that despite the country’s large economy, revenue collection remains low, mainly due to weak tax compliance, with the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio currently the lowest in Asia.
Source: Daily Sun
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