NBR’s first lottery for shoppers 5 Feb

The National Revenue Board (NBR) will hold its first lottery on shopping payments through Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) on 5 February.

Shoppers who will make the payments through the EFDs from 1 January to 31 January will be in the median lottery of the revenue board. And the rewards ranging from Tk1 lakh to Tk10,000 will be completely tax free.

At a press conference Wednesday, NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem revealed the information. 

The revenue board earlier said it will reward 101 buyers every month from among those who pay through EFDs after shopping. The winner of the first prize will get Tk1 lakh, second price Tk50,000 and third price Tk25,000. Thus, there will be a total of 101 prizes up to Tk10,000.

The EFD shopping invoices will be considered as coupons in the lottery, said Muneem. "We are using EFDs to ensure transparency in automated VAT payment. Since popularizing EFD is a challenge, we announced the awards to encourage people shopping through the EFDs."

The NBR chairman said they have installed more than 1000 EFDs in Dhaka and Chattogram, and the electronic devices will be set up in other places gradually.

He said, "For transparency in revenue collection, we have taken the initiative to collect VAT through EFD. We are implementing a number of modules under the VAT Online Project to ensure automated VAT calculation and collection."

The NBR chairman said the revenue board has introduced EFD management system (EFDMS) to ensure proper VAT collection and maintain transparency at the consumer level.

Regarding the VAT Day, the NBR chairman said, "To encourage people for VAT payment and to raise awareness, we have been observing National VAT Day on 10 December and VAT Week on 10-15 December."

The press conference was told that this year's VAT Day theme is 'Promise of Mujib Year, NBR in EFD'.

The chairman said they have dropped celebrations marking the VAT Day due to the government's austerity measure during the pandemic.

While replying to a query on VAT refund to businessmen, Rahmatul Muneem there will be regular monthly meetings on refunds. "Wait a bit, you will see something better."

Responding to another question on shops with EFD, he said the revenue board is providing traders with training. "Once you get used to it, you will get the benefits," he added.  

He put high hopes on awards by lottery to popularize the EFDs and commented that it could be the game changer.

Noting that NBR will prioritize VAT for revenue collection, the NBR chairman added that the lion's portion of their total revenue comes from VAT. NBR field level officials and VAT wing are being trained to increase revenue through VAT collection.