The government is mulling a budget for the next fiscal year with an ambitious revenue target but without imposing any additional tax burden on people, keeping in view the national election ahead.

The finance minister will make his tax proposals with the donors' conditions and the next elections in his mind.

A National Board of Revenue (NBR) high official said elections are ahead, so there will be hardly any big changes. The Central Intelligence Cell will have to be made more effective to plug the loopholes that many use to evade taxes and Vat, if the ambitious revenue target is to be achieved, he said.

The finance division is busier revising the budget for the current fiscal year than penning the budget for the next budget. The responsibility of implementing the next budget will not be on this government alone, and that's why it is more concerned with the current budget than the coming one.

Again, on the one hand, the revenue earning fell short of the target and on the other the inflow of foreign aid also declined this fiscal year compared to the last fiscal. As a result, bank borrowing might rise beyond the limit set in the budget.

Considering that oil prices may be hiked, some special assistance may be proposed to minimise the effect on the vulnerable group. Apart from them, some populist declarations may also find place in the next budget.

The next budget's total revenue target may be set raising the current revised budget's revenue target by 18 percent, and the amount will be Tk 52,300 crore. Of this, the NBR revenue target for the coming fiscal year may be fixed, increasing the current revised budget's NBR revenue target by 20 percent, the amount being Tk 41,000 crore.

Though revenue growth target for the current fiscal year was set at 17 percent, at best 15 percent growth can be achieved. Consequently, it is very unlikely that the revenue growth target for the coming fiscal year will be met.

Sources said tariff rate in case of import may be reduced by two percentage point in line with the donors' suggestion. There are three slabs in case of import duty -- 25 percent, 13 percent and 6 percent. The 25 percent slab will remain unchanged but the other two slabs may be reduced by one percentage point each.

There are six slabs in case of supplementary duty, which are 20, 35, 65, 100, 250 and 350 percent. Some of the lower slabs may be reduced in the coming budget. Under the lower slabs, industrial raw materials and intermediary goods are imported, so lowering of those slabs will meet the donors' condition as well as continue to protect the local industrialists.

The budget may have a provision to make payment of salaries through bank accounts mandatory, which will naturally shrink the scope for the private companies to evade taxes.

Taxes on SIM card are set to rise next year. The experience this year shows the mobile companies bear the taxes on their own and the subscribers do not have to bear the brunt. That's why the government plans to further raise the tax on SIM.

Besides, licence fees for the telephone companies will also be raised.

Moreover, imposition of Vat on bus ticket and profits of the NGOs was also considered but latter dropped as it might cause public suffering.

Unified Tax Identification Number may be introduced for the Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU).

The tax measures will be taken in such a way that they don't hurt the masses. Besides, the ongoing safety net in the budget will be expanded.

A fund may be created from where assistance will be provided to the vulnerable groups if oil prices are hiked. A card may be distributed among the poor people, who upon showing the card will be able to buy kerosene and diesel at subsidised prices.

The provision of allowing fertiliser import by the private sector is going to be scrapped, and Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation will be given the responsibility. Farm subsidy will be increased.