The revenue board Tuesday raised its annual tax collection target for the first time in its history as it hopes the caretaker government’s on-going crackdown on tax evasion will result in higher windfall, officials said.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has projected Tk 441.41 billion revenue earning for the 2007-08 fiscal, which is up by Tk 2.91 billion from the original target set in the budget.

The NBR has projected Tk 111.87 billion revenue as income tax, Tk 148.64 billion as VAT and Tk 180.90 as customs duty against its original target of Tk 108.38 billion, Tk 148.00 billion and Tk 178.12 billion for this fiscal.

“This is for the first time in NBR’s history that we have revised upward our annual revenue target. In the past, we always had to lower the target,” the chairman of the board Abdul Mazid told the FE.

The board will be able to surpass the target by chasing the top tax evaders and intensifying its drive for realization of value added tax (VAT), Mazid said.

NBR officials said the upward revision follows a better-than-expected half yearly revenue collection.

In the first six months, revenue collection grew an impressive 23.48 per cent to Tk 196.33 billion. Although it missed the target originally set in the budget, officials have expressed their satisfaction at the first half’s revenue performance.

Tax revenue earning were Tk 145.75 billion and Tk 159 billion in the first half of the of 2005-06 and 2006-07 fiscals.

“We have set the revenue collection target following a satisfactory trend of six months revenue earning,” said Mazid, adding the board would easily achieve the revised target if the present trend continues.

He said the NBR’s drive against tax evaders, individuals’ tax returns and opportunity for legalizing undisclosed income have contributed to impressive revenue growth in the first half.

“The board will chase the big fishes for tax realization and already asked the income tax officials to serve notice on the tax dodgers,” Mazid said.

The NBR chief said among three wings of the board, performance of the VAT department was not satisfactory in the first six months.

“We will give a specific guidelines to all three tax departments today (Tuesday) for increasing their collection in the second half of the current fiscal,” Mazid said.

Head of the VAT department Mohammad Alam said the collection of value added tax would pick up in the second half of the fiscal.

“The VAT collection usually gets momentum in the second half of every fiscal when the government implements most of its annual development programme (ADP),” Alam said.