NBR Likely to Fall Short of Revised Revenue Goal by Tk 880 Billion

Bangla Press Desk:  The National Board of Revenue (NBR) expects to collect a record Tk 4.15 trillion (Tk 4.15 lakh crore) in revenue in the outgoing 2025-26 fiscal year, although the figure is likely to fall short of the revised target by around Tk 880 billion (Tk 88,000 crore).

According to an NBR press release, the revised revenue collection target for FY2025-26 was set at Tk 5.03 trillion (Tk 5.03 lakh crore).

However, revenue collection stood at Tk 3.606 trillion (Tk 3,60,642 crore) during the first 11 months of the fiscal year up to May 2026.

During the July-May period, the revenue authority achieved 81.58 per cent of its target of Tk 4.421 trillion (Tk 4,42,084 crore), leaving a shortfall of Tk 814.42 billion (Tk 81,442 crore).

Despite the gap, the NBR said revenue collection during the first 11 months of the fiscal year reached an all-time high for the corresponding period.

Revenue receipts during the July-May period of FY26 increased by Tk 328.56 billion (Tk 32,856.22 crore) from Tk 3.278 trillion (Tk 3,27,785.78 crore) collected in the same period of FY25, registering a growth of 10.02 per cent.

Among the major revenue wings, customs revenue grew by 7.08 per cent, value-added tax (VAT) revenue by 10.05 per cent and income tax revenue by 12.54 per cent during the first 11 months of the fiscal year.

The NBR said Tk 293.11 billion (Tk 29,311 crore) was collected during the first 20 days of June, taking total revenue collection to Tk 3.900 trillion (Tk 3,89,953 crore) as of June 20.

This has already surpassed the total revenue collection of Tk 3.708 trillion (Tk 3,70,843.03 crore) recorded in the whole of FY2024-25.

The revenue authority expressed optimism that an additional Tk 250 billion (Tk 25,000 crore) could be collected during the remaining 10 days of June, enabling total revenue collection to reach a historic Tk 4.15 trillion (Tk 4.15 lakh crore) by the end of the fiscal year.

If achieved, the collection would exceed the previous fiscal year’s total by Tk 431.57 billion (Tk 43,157 crore), although it would remain below the revised target.

To accelerate revenue mobilisation, the NBR has formed three separate task forces comprising field-level officials from the income tax, VAT and customs wings.

The task forces have undertaken a range of measures, including expediting cases pending before appellate authorities, tribunals, the High Court and the Supreme Court, as well as strengthening alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

The NBR said efforts to detect tax evasion, recover unpaid revenue, expedite audit-based assessments, enhance monitoring of withholding tax and VAT collections, strengthen post-clearance audits and risk management activities, and conduct joint income tax and VAT audits of high-risk taxpayers have helped improve overall revenue administration.

The board said its efforts to mobilise the revenue required for the country’s development and public expenditure programmes would continue.