In Bangladesh, the fundamental problem behind arresting the revenue deficit is the rising expenditure unmatched by corresponding means of finance. Of total revenue, the revenue from non-tax sources is nearly one-fifth and its share in GDP has shown a stable trend over the years. This paper mainly focuses on the study of non-tax revenue performance in Bangladesh. The contribution of non-tax revenue, although erratic in terms of growth rate, has shown substantial increase in terms of absolute amount over the period, 1997-98 to 2006-07. Although, various reform initiatives have been taken to improve the tax performance, the initiatives are highly insignificant in case of non-tax revenue. The performance of non-tax revenue can significantly be improved through effective and efficient policy measures, which may help the country to cope with the fiscal imbalance in resource mobilization.

Governments need money. Modern governments need lots of money. How they get this money and whom they take it from are two of the most difficult political issues faced by any modern political economy (Steinmo, 1993 as quoted by Hardiman, 2004). Generation of appropriate resources for the government is essential for the economic substance of any country. It is even more so for the developing countries like Bangladesh, because of the wide gap between the minimum `requirements' for infrastructure, health, education and other needs available with a common man. In other more stable developing countries, revenues are needed primarily to provide for adequate education (investment in human capital), which many regard as the key to promoting development (Sen, 1997). The mobilization of sufficient resources for use by the government for undertaking various social and development programs has always been rather problematic and many countries have run up sizeable fiscal deficits over several years.

Basically, in most of the developing countries like Bangladesh, mobilizing funds for use by the government is undertaken in three ways: through the levying of taxes, generation of non-tax revenues and government borrowing from local or international capital markets. Most of the off-market resources are raised through taxes, with non-tax revenue being less than 5% of GDP in most countries (Tanzi and Zee, 2000). Bangladesh, as a developing country, is committed to augment revenue and achieve fiscal discipline with the aim of increasing self-reliance. The external environment influencing the tax performance of Bangladesh has changed remarkably as the country became increasingly integrated with the global economy during the 1990s (McCarten, 2005).

The total revenue of Bangladesh can be classified into two categories—tax revenue and non-tax revenue. The major source of national revenue is tax receipts raised through fiscal statutes. The tax revenue in the country consists of both direct taxes (income tax, gift tax, land development tax, non-judicial stamp duty, registration, immovable property tax, etc.) and indirect taxes (customs duty, excise duty, motor vehicle tax, narcotics and liquor duty, Value Added Tax (VAT), supplementary duty, foreign travel tax, turnover tax, electricity duty, advertisement tax, etc.). The National Board of Revenue (NBR) under the Internal Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance is the apex tax authority of Bangladesh and it collects around 93% of total taxes or 76% of total public revenue.

Public Finance, Non-Tax Revenue, Value Added Tax, VAT, National Board of Revenue, NBR, Ministry of Finance, Apex Tax, Government Borrowing, Income Tax, Gift Tax, Tax Revenue, SAARC Countries, Bangladesh Economic Review, Government Capital, World Bank, Non-Commercial Sale, Capital Receipts.