Earlier, there was no provision for penalty in such cases though both these provisions had been in place.

A uniform income tax return form is being prepared to facilitate submission of both lifestyle information and wealth statement.

An official at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said, wishing anonymity, it would be easier to identify the tax dodgers if the information is there in the income tax returns. Amendments to the income tax return law are in the offing to cut down on the cases of tax evasion, he said.

The proposed national budget has set aside about Tk 2 crore for the NBR portion for the coming fiscal year to reward tax officials who would help catch the tax evaders.

"The tax officials will prefer, let's say, Tk 20 in halal income in the form of an award to Tk 40 in bribe for abetting the tax-dodgers," a high NBR official said, on condition that he not be named.

The official said the proposed budget for FY 2005-06 has set a bigger target of income tax realisation that can be achieved by putting brakes on tax evasion.

The Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) has discovered tax evasion worth Tk 700 crore in the current fiscal year and so far realised Tk 15 crore. The NBR has decided to award Tk 35 lakh among the CIC officials to encourage them to keep up the good work.

The number of taxpayers totalled 17. 80 lakh until May 30, of whom 8 lakh submitted income tax return. But, many of them did not provide information about their lifestyle and wealth.

Apart from introducing tough income tax laws, the government has proposed a new law that unconditionally allows professionals including doctors, engineers, and lawyers, who have got undisclosed income, the scope for whitening black money provided they pay in taxes 7.5 percent of the sum to be whitened.

Earlier, one was allowed to whiten black money without their having to pay taxes and disclose the source of income on condition that they would invest the money in the industries or capital market.

But the NBR official was sceptical about whether the new measure would bring about the desired results. He explained that those who have amassed huge amount of black money through such illegal means as smuggling and drug-peddling are not going to take advantage of this opportunity, as they do not want to expose themselves for obvious reason. They would rather choose the safer route of smuggling their money out to overseas banks.

One conservative estimate puts the amount of black money in the country at about Tk 50,000 crore. But, over the last three years a paltry Tk 1,800 crore in black money was whitened, the NBR official revealed.

"For this reason, we are targeting those professionals who have got undisclosed income but tend to dodge tax or avoid payment altogether due to the hassle of the system," he said.