Muhith: Most new taxpayers aged under 40

The majority of the new taxpayers of the country are under 40 years of age, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said on Sunday. “This is the most pleasing matter. This means the country's young people think they should do something for the state as it is serving them. They have come forward to speed up their country's development. I thank the youth,” at a program titled “The Importance of VAT for Implementation of Vision 2021 and Vision 2041.” The event was organized to mark National VAT Day and VAT Week 2017 at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) headquarters in Agargaon, Dhaka on Sunday. Addressing the event, the finance minister said it was the youth of the country who was taking the country forward. “They are also contributing more to the achievement of Digital Bangladesh and leading the IT sector. The country's future depends on them and its future is bright at their hands.” Noting that there had been a big shift in people's mindset towards paying tax, he said the number of taxpayers has more than doubled to three million from 1.4 million. Muhith further said the government had introduced awards for taxpayers for encouraging more and more people to pay tax to fuel the country's economy. A total of 10 institutions at the national level and 140 more at the district level were awarded as top VAT payers in production, business and service categories for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. The event, chaired by NBR Chairman Nojibur Rahman, was also attended by Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu and Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Finance Chairman Dr Md Abdur Razzaque, among others.