The tax target for the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has become more daunting against the backdrop of slowing collection as the economy continues to grapple with worsening consumer purchasing power due to stubbornly high inflation and declining private and public investment.

Bolstered by rising value-added tax (VAT) collection and increased income tax receipts, the tax administrator logged Tk 259,866 crore in total revenue in the July-March period of the current fiscal year, according to the NBR’s provisional estimates.

Tax collection soared nearly 14 percent in the first half of the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24