Bangladesh’s domestic revenue mobilisation from July to January of the current fiscal year (FY25) fell short of the revised target by nearly 21%, raising concerns over meeting expenditure needs, officials said.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) collected Tk 1.95 trillion in the first seven months—42.25% of the revised Tk 4.63 trillion target—leaving a Tk 510.55 billion shortfall.

To meet the annual goal, the NBR must now raise Tk 535.27 billion monthly from February to June, far above its Tk 300 billion monthly average.

Despite the shortfall, revenue collection grew by nearly 3% compared to the same period of FY24. In January alone, the NBR collected Tk 354 billion, a 7% year-on-year increase, though still 5.11% below the monthly target.

Among revenue streams, Value Added Tax (VAT) collections rose by nearly 4%, income tax by 3.59%, and import duties by 1.02%. However, the income tax wing recorded the highest shortfall at 27.5%, followed by VAT at 16.41% and import-export tax at 17.45%.

Until January, VAT collections stood at Tk 735.66 billion, income tax at Tk 640.84 billion, and import-export taxes at Tk 582.1 billion.

To reach the FY25 target, the NBR needs to mobilize Tk 2.67 trillion in the remaining five months—a challenge given historical collection trends.

The interim government recently revised the original Tk 4.8 trillion revenue target to Tk 4.63 trillion.