In cooperation with the Research and Evaluation Division of BRAC, Copenhagen Consensus Center organized roundtable discussions with an aim to figure out smarter solutions to the most problematic issues facing Bangladesh.

1. Fiscal Management
and Revenue
Mobilization
Research Ideas
Dhaka
July, 2015

2. Bangladesh Priorities
WORKING WITH 30-50 economists including Nobel Laureates, 100+
sector experts engaging major development organizations, NGOs,
government, businesses, youths, rural and urban Bangladeshis to
identify, analyze and prioritize interventions that will deliver greater
benefit per taka spent, helping move Bangladesh towards Vision 2021
and a more prosperous long term future.

3. In cooperation with the Research
and Evaluation Division of BRAC,
Copenhagen Consensus Center
organized roundtable discussions
with an aim to figure out smarter
solutions to the most problematic
issues facing Bangladesh.
These roundtables are
one of several sources
for research ideas.
Sourcing ideas and solutions
Smarter solutions for Bangladesh
Complete set of papers
on 30-50 solutions
PRIORITIZATION
Government NGOs
Academia Pvt sector
Think tanks
Development
organizations
Eminent Panel
Assessment
Government and
donor seminars
Rural polls
Newspaper polls
among readers
Youth forums
across the country
Private sector
meetings
Social, economic and
environmental benefit-cost
research by top Bangladeshi,
and international economists
Extensive peer review by sector
experts and academics
100+ ideas on
policies & investments
20162015 Continuous
engagement with
the public via
electronic, print
and social media
Working with
civil society,
government and
sector experts
Widely
advocating
results of
prioritization
exercises
OUTREACH

4. Research Ideas

5. Fiscal Management and Revenue Mobilization;
(1 of 8)
• Expedite implementation of the NBR Modernization
Plan.
• Introduce ICT in revenue collection process.
• Identify political economy constraints in fiscal
management.
• Create a forum/commission with government and
research organizations’ representatives for
prioritization of public expenditure.
• Ensure timely implementation of projects aimed at
increasing revenue collection.
• Better project management to reduce overrun costs.
• Decentralize revenue collection.

6. Fiscal Management and Revenue Mobilization;
(2 of 8)
• Initiate local level fiscal empowerment.
• Implement allocated budgets for social sector in a
timely manner.
• Imposition of a single VAT rate across all sectors.
• Reduce communication between tax collectors and
taxpayers.
• Increase Parliamentary Committees engagement in
oversight process.
• Use of ICT (mobile phones and UDCs) in engaging local
citizens for accountability purposes.
• Enhancing administrative capacity for revenue
collection and its expenditure.

7. Fiscal Management and Revenue Mobilization;
(3 of 8)
• Reduce gaps in revenue targets - actual vs MTBF
(Medium-Term Budget Framework).
• Increasing reliance on income tax and VAT.
• Improve quality of public spending on projects and
public services.
• Increasing domestic borrowing through National
Savings Schemes and short-term treasury bills.
• Complement concessional loans with additional
borrowings through sovereign bonds of various
maturities [with preference for longer maturity period
as in the case of Indonesia and Philippines].
• Launch the first sovereign bond.
• Reorganization and retraining of the NBR’s VAT staff.

8. Fiscal Management and Revenue Mobilization;
(4 of 8)
• Replacing most of the NBR’s field level staff with new
Revenue Officers.
• Reducing the number of products subject to
supplementary duty from 1,400 to 200 or less.
• Eliminating current practice of price approval on most
items.
• Eliminating excise type current account system for VAT
payments in order to move towards a return-based VAT
administration.
• Broaden the taxpayer base with major registration
drives.
• Change the Direct Tax Law/Codes based on the principle
of universal taxation.

9. Fiscal Management and Revenue Mobilization;
(5 of 8)
• Generate tax earning from service providers and self-
employed.
• Treating all sources of tax income equally - capital
gains from land, real estate/housing, stock market and
RMG.
• Design and implement a proper “Wealth Tax” or
“Property Tax” identifying the right way to collect the
tax.
• Effective implementation of VAT and Supplementary
Duty Act 2012.
• Include transfer pricing in the Income Tax Ordinance,
1984.
• Incorporate alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in
Income Tax, VAT and Custom Acts.

10. Fiscal Management and Revenue Mobilization;
(6 of 8)
• Automation of TIN registration.
• Linking TIN and BIN with National ID.
• Establishment of a Central Processing Centre to process
all tax returns, whether e-filed or paper filed.
• Introduce electronic submission and return processing
for income tax.
• Launch a taxpayer education program enabling
potential/new taxpayers to interface with the NBR
Customer Service Wing.
• Expand VAT base especially on businesses and
organizations.
• Incentivize VAT payment with benefits for small
businesses operating in the informal sector.

11. Fiscal Management and Revenue Mobilization;
(7 of 8)
• Introduce a modern Financial Management Information
System (FMIS) in line with international accounting
and reporting standards (cash IPSAS, GFSM 2001).
• Creation of a centralized Treasury Single Account linked
to FMIS.
• Formal approval and introduction of a GFSM compliant
Chart of Accounts.
• Removal of demarcation between non-development and
development budgets.
• Gradual joint programming of capital and recurrent
spending.
• Publication of a citizens’ budget immediately after the
budget speech.

12. Fiscal Management and Revenue Mobilization;
(8 of 8)
• Greater transparency of public finance data in user-
friendly and editable formats, such as through an Open
Data Portal or the National Portal.
• Ensure timely completion of all ongoing special-
purpose budget management initiatives such as child
budgeting, gender budgeting, district level budgeting,
etc.
• Enhance the effectiveness of Comptroller and Auditor-
General with appropriate budget discretion and
authority over human resources and a separate audit
cadre.

13. Full List of Attendees and
Interviewees
Dr. Selim Raihan, Professor, DU & ED, SANEM.
Dr. Zahid Hussain, Lead Economist, Word Bank,
Dhaka.
Towfiqul Islam Khan, Research Fellow, Centre for
Policy Dialogue.
Dr. Zaidi Sattar, Chairman, Policy Research Institute.
Dr. Sadiq Ahmed, Vice Chairman, Policy Research
Institute.
Dr. Ahsan H. Monsur, Executive Director, Policy
Research Institute.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director,
Center for Policy Dialogue.
Dr. Fahmida Khatun, Research Director, Center for
Policy Dialogue.
Dr. Sajjad Zohir, Executive Director, Economic
Research Group.
Md. Asadul Islam, Economic Relations Division (ERD),
Ministry of Finance.
Mr. Shaquib Quereshi, Secretary, Metropolitan
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).