Electronic VAT machines made mandatory at highway restaurants

Value Added Tax

Dhaka, Mar 2 - Installation of Electronic Fiscal Device (EFD) or Sales Data Controller (SDC) machines has been made mandatory in all the highway restaurants of the country aiming to enhance declining Value Added Tax (VAT) collection.

The move by the National Board of Revenue has taken after consumers' complaint VAT is not being properly deposited in the government treasury as the highway eateries do not issue electronic VAT invoices.

According to the NBR, 24-hour business activities are carried out in the restaurants along the highways. Many of them collect VAT but do not deposit it properly.

In order to collect VAT properly, NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan recently issued instructions to install EFD/SDC machines in all the hotels and restaurants located on the highways of the country.

In that context, the letter issued by the VAT Implementation Division of the NBR has directed all field-level commissioners to install EFD/SDC machines in hotels and restaurants located on all highways of the country and to monitor daily transactions regularly and collect the appropriate amount of VAT.

Genex IT has been working with the NBR for the past few years to install EFD machines and enter all transaction information into the IVAS system through its overall management.

The interim government is taking various positive steps to keep the wheels of the country's economy moving, officials said.

To this end, the NBR has issued strict instructions at the field level to identify new taxpayers for revenue collection and change the VAT rate, as well as to prevent revenue evasion.

The NBR has instructed field-level officers to maintain a service-oriented attitude towards taxpayers in collecting legal revenue.

NBR is specifically requesting the consumers to take electronic invoices or receipts while shopping at all restaurants on the highway.

If the VAT invoice is not accepted, the VAT paid by the buyers will not be deposited in the government treasury, the NBR said.

Every month, NBR will award hundreds of prizes to the winning VAT payers through a lottery from among the EFD machine-generated VAT receipts.

Recently, the NBR has taken another move to install electronic fiscal device (EFD) all jewellery shops across the country, aiming to enhance the revenue collection from this sector.

At the initial stage the EFD will be installed in all jewellery shops in Dhaka, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Savar, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Netrakona, Kishoreganj, Sherpur, Tangail, Jamalpur, Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Bandarban, Khagrachhar and Rangamati districts soon.

The revenue collector has issued a letter in this regard.

It held a meeting with the leaders of the Bangladesh Jewellers Association (Bajus) on January 7 at the NBR regarding the establishment of EFD.

Association leaders raised various problems in the jewellery sector. Some of the problems were related to VAT, baggage rules, gold import, etc. They informed that there are still many institutions in the jewellery sector which are not registered under VAT.

The leaders said that by registering unregistered institutions, establishing EFD in all institutions, and solving other problems in this sector in a reasonable and fair manner, the government's revenue collection will increase and this sector will flourish.

A request has been made to the association provide a list of jewellery establishments in the markets and areas of Dhaka, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Savar, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Netrakona, Kishoreganj, Sherpur, Tangail, Jamalpur, Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati. And the association already sent the list.

At present the number of registered VAT payers is just over 500,000 although a significant number of eligible businesses operating outside the system.

The NBR chairman on several occasions expressed his dissatisfaction over the collection of VAT.

According to the NBR data, till December 2024 the VAT collection at the local level was Tk 36,676 crore against the target of Tk 52,558 crore while the collection in December 2023 was Tk 39,453 crore. - UNB