Dhaka: The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has decided to be tougher against the use of fake band-rolls and stamps against Bidi and cigarette companies as the revenue collector of the national exchequer has got some allegations in this regard.

According to sources at the NBR, some bidi and cigarette-producing companies are using fake band-rolls and stamps to evade tax.

‘The amount of the tax evasion is hefty and it came in the light following an inquiry,’ a senior NBR official told UNB.

He said the country's some tobacco companies have long been using fake band-rolls and stamps to evade the Value Added Tax (VAT).

The Board also asked its field-level offices across the country to intensify their surveillance.

The NBR official said they have collected samples from the retail markets and checked those with the NBR-supplied ones. ‘We've got some anomalies in this regard,’ he said.

There is an allegation that the tobacco companies are evading tax and duty through using fake band-rolls and stamps or re-using the old ones.

It is not always possible for the NBR to check the band-rolls and stamps in all shops of the markets for lack of manpower, according to the NBR official.

He also said a directive has been given to take necessary steps for realizing the tax from the respective companies, saying that some bidi and cigarette-producing companies under the Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionarate are using fake band-rolls and stamps to evade tax.

The officials have been concerned to ensure the appropriate revenue collection through checking the production and supply of these tobacco companies.

The directive has been given under the sub-clause 1 of clause 26 (Kha) of the Value Added Tax Act, 1991.

It also asked for ensuring the usage of band-rolls and stamps according to the price level along with ensuring the revenue collection (VAT and Supplementary Duty) from these companies.

The NBR also directed its VAT officials to inspect the production level to supply level for containing any sort of VAT and duty evasion.

The revenue collecting authority has got a gigantic target of Tk 176,370 crore for the 2015-16 fiscal. This year, an amount of Tk 64,971 crore will have to come from income tax, while Tk 64,262 crore from VAT and Tk 18,752 from import duty.

The target for export duty has been fixed at Tk 37 crore, excise duty at Tk 1,239 crore and supplementary duty at Tk 25,875.

‘To achieve the target, the NBR is very much cautious from the very beginning of the fiscal and wanted to check all loopholes,’ the NBR said.