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The Ministry of Establishment has finally okayed the proposed organogram of the Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) for value added tax (VAT) wing, bringing some minor changes in the original draft
The ministry has trimmed down the manpower strength and some other logistic supports for the LTU organogram, official sources said.
The number of manpower for the LTU has been reduced to about 125 from 175 by the establishment ministry, an official hinted.
"It (Ministry of Establishment) has argued that the revised number of workforce is sufficient to run the Dhaka-based office," an official said quoting the ministry.
The revised draft organogram is to be placed soon before the Ministry of Finance for its consent, officials said, adding after being vetted by the ministry it will be submitted to the concerned cabinet committee for approval.
They further said the final organogarm would require Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's nod.
So, the whole process will take at least a couple of months to accomplish, they noted.
The establishment ministry has okayed the draft LTU organogram following frequent appeals by the NBR authority, said an official.
Besides, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has long been pressing the authorities for an early finalisation of an operational structure for LTU to help boost the government's tax-revenue collection.
The IMF has asked for finalisation of the organogram as part of the ongoing reforms in the government's revenue administration.
At its latest meeting with the NBR, an IMF delegation expressed dissatisfaction over a 'slow pace' of the finalisation process, said NRB officials.
Even after the establishment of the LTU in early October 2004, the government is yet to frame an organogram for it.
The LTU is to face some problems for the mobilisation of the government's tax revenues due to the absence of a well-defined operational structure.
The LTU authority recently axed the number of tax payers to 151 from 160 due to lack of necessary manpower other logistic supports.
The Unit is manned by 30 officials and employees as against its requirement of at least 175.
The government has established the LTU with the aim of mobilising around 60 per cent of its total VAT collection through it.
According to official figures, the overall VAT collection under the LTU fell short of target by nearly Tk 5.0 billion in the 2004-05 fiscal year, official figures revealed.
The NBR has set a target of mobilising VAT works Tk 72.80 billion for the LTU during the current fiscal against Tk 59.05 billion in the last fiscal.
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