Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said some 33 lakh people, who have the ability to pay taxes are still out of the tax net while a total of 1.16 crore people across the country are able to pay tax.

The finance minister said this when treasury bench lawmaker Hazi Mohammad Selim of Dhaka-7 made the query at the question-answer session which was tabled at the Jatiya Sangsad here.

With Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair, Mustafa Kamal said there are a number of reasons which is creating impediment to bring the people under the net of the tax.

The reasons include manpower shortage at the income tax department, no income tax offices at the remote areas of the country, eligible people are usually reluctant to pay tax, no enhancement of tax base and implementation of full automation programme at the income tax department.