Tk350cr land tax in a month thanks to cashless system

The recently introduced cashless land development tax (LD Tax) system has yielded impressive results, with Tk350 crore being collected in just one month.

"Introducing the cashless system on 14 April this year brought a revolution. With this development, annual land tax collection will hopefully exceed Tk2,000 crore," Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said while addressing a public awareness programme in Chattogram on Saturday.

Highlighting the achievements of the cashless system, the minister said in the fiscal year 2021-22, the total LD Tax collection rose to Tk641 crore, with only 20% collected online. In the previous fiscal year, only Tk450 crore in LD Tax was collected.

The event took place at the port city's MA Aziz Stadium, organised by Chattogram district administration as part of the "Land Service Week-2023".

Expressing his determination to reform the country's land tax collection process, the minister acknowledged the prevalence of abuse in the field-level collection system, resulting in inadequate collection.

"The land ministry has taken advantage of the opportunities presented by Digital Bangladesh to provide online services to the public," he said.

Mentioning that initiatives were taken to amend the existing land law, which requires 12 years of possession alone to confer land ownership, the minister said, "It is a challenging endeavour. However, the proposed law with amendments will soon be presented in the Cabinet Division, with plans to place it in the next parliamentary session."

Amidst the positive progress, Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the Chattogram's Land Acquisition Branch.

Although a few service recipients expressed their satisfaction during the public awareness programme, the minister stressed that those do not accurately reflect the overall situation.

Acknowledging that harassment related to land acquisition remains a widespread issue, the minister assured all that any complaint made would be thoroughly probed and efforts are underway to prevent any irregularities in the system.

Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Abul Basar Mohammad Fakhruzzaman presided over the ceremony. Boalkhali Upazila Assistant Commissioner (land) Alauddin set forth a presentation on the digitisation of land services.

Divisional Commissioner Aminur Rahman, Chattogram Metropolitan Muktijoddha Sangsad Commander Mozaffar Ahmad, and District Committee Commander (acting) AKM Sarwar Kamal were present as special guests.