The chairman said, "At present around 10 lakh individuals are paying taxes, but I believe taxable people in the country should be around one crore."

"That's why we decided to carry out a survey to find more taxpayers", he said, while addressing a views exchange meeting with the Dhaka Taxes Bar Association (DTBA).

The NBR will appoint students of universities and colleges on temporary basis to conduct the survey during their leisure period, the NBR chairman said.

He said, "We have 140 million people in the country but few people pay taxes. The survey will help boost the number of taxpayers."

In response to the demand for making the Bar membership mandatory for all tax advisors, he gave assurance to take adequate legal measures.

Khairuzzaman said he would consider placing the matter of compulsory Bar membership in the Finance Bill during the next budget.

Referring to the incomplete and misleading information in the income tax returns he urged the tax lawyers to play compliance friendly role to increase the tax collections.

Members and senior officials of the NBR and the Dhaka Taxes Bar Association General Secretary Amin Ahmed Montu also spoke on the occasion while DTBA President Sohrab Uddin chaired the programme.

Members of the Taxes Bar Association conduct 30 percent tax related cases while 70 percent are conducted by lawyers outside the association, Amin Ahmed said.