In a move aimed at providing relief to the public and boosting bank deposits, the government has proposed raising the excise duty exemption limit on bank deposits to Tk 3.0 lakh in the budget of fiscal year 2025-26.

Currently, an excise duty of BDT 150 is levied if a bank account balance exceeds Tk1.0 lakh at any point during a year.

Under the proposed budget, account holders will only be subject to excise duty if their deposit balance surpasses Tk3.0 lakh. This change was announced by Finance Advisor  Salehuddin Ahmed during his budget speech on Monday.

"To provide some relief to the public, VAT and excise duty exemptions have been granted in certain areas, excise duty exemption has been provided on bank balances up to Tk3.0 lakh instead of Tk1.0 lakh," said Salehuddin.

Currently, the excise duty structure is as follows:

For balances ranging from Tk1.0 lakh to Tk5.0 lakh, an excise duty of Tk150 is applied.

For balances from Tk 5.0 lakh to Tk 10 lakh, the excise duty is Tk 500.

These duties are levied if the bank account balance touches these respective tiers at least once annually.

Sector-related individuals believe that this increased exemption threshold will encourage small depositors to utilize formal banking channels, thereby contributing to the overall growth of bank deposits.