Published: 09:25 AM, 18 June 2026
Ambitious revenue target may trigger taxpayers’ harassment: MCCI
Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) on Wednesday cautioned that the government's ambitious revenue mobilisation target for fiscal year 2026-27 could expose taxpayers to harassment at the field level as the National Board of Revenue (NBR) collected only 65 percent of its revised target in the outgoing fiscal year.
MCCI President Kamran T. Rahman raised the concern while delivering the welcome address at a post-budget discussion jointly organised by MCCI, Standard Chartered Bangladesh and the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) at the M. Anis Ud Dowla Conference Hall of MCCI's Gulshan office in the city.
The budget has set a revenue collection target of Tk 6.95 lakh crore, which represents a growth of over 18.2 percent compared to the current fiscal year's revised target.
“NBR managed to collect only Tk 3.27 lakh crore, or 65 percent of the revised target, up to April of FY 2025-26,” Kamran said. “Achieving the new revenue target without comprehensive structural reforms will be extremely difficult, and the pressure to do so may lead to harassment of taxpayers at the field level.”
He, however, acknowledged that the proposed budget, the first full-year budget of the newly elected government contains several business-friendly reform proposals, including modernisation of tax and revenue administration, digitalisation, and ease of doing business measures.
The MCCI president stressed that the key objective of the day's forum was not to examine isolated budget proposals, but to explore how the budget can be successfully implemented by broadening the tax base rather than imposing additional burdens on specific sectors or existing taxpayers.
“The national budget is not merely a statement of government income and expenditure, it is a reflection of a country's economic priorities, development strategy, and future direction,” Kamran said.
The budget comes at a time when the global economy continues to grapple with geopolitical uncertainty, trade tensions, and structural economic challenges, he added.
He said MCCI remains committed to fostering open and constructive dialogue among the government, private sector, and other stakeholders on key national economic issues.
Kamran expressed hope that the deliberations from the forum, held ahead of the budget's final approval in parliament, would enrich the policymaking process and provide actionable guidance to the relevant authorities, reports UNB.
Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, adviser to the prime minister on finance, planning, and science and technology, today (17 June) announced that the government has formed three separate task forces for income tax, VAT, and customs to boost revenue collection
Speaking at a post-budget dialogue jointly organised by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Standard Chartered Bangladesh and the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) in Gulshan, he said the reforms aim to strengthen the revenue base through better compliance and transparency.
Titumir said that the government is pursuing a three-phase economic strategy- Recovery, Restoration, and Reconstruction for Acceleration. To achieve this, priority is being given to consumption, private investment, public expenditure, and export diversification.
He said monthly action plans and specific milestones have been set for three revenue task forces, with progress being reviewed regularly.
He added that steps are being taken to address inconsistencies in revenue data and improve transparency in data management.
The adviser stressed that increasing revenue alone is not sufficient, noting that development and capital expenditure must also grow in proportion to operational spending. He warned that the rapid rise in recurrent expenditure compared to development spending poses a long-term challenge for economic growth.
Titumir criticised delays in project implementation, noting that many development projects have been running for over a decade with repeated revisions. He added that reforms are being introduced across the full project cycle, from formulation and approval to implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Titumir said that a dashboard-based monitoring system is being introduced to track project progress in real time, alongside efforts to implement an open-data policy to improve transparency in policy making and research.
