United News of Bangladesh

National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan on Sunday categorically said his organisation will not hesitate to take any decision for the benefit for the country. “We are moving towards that direction,” he said, while holding pre-budget discussion with the Newspapers Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) at NBR. He mentioned that there are three reasons behind the lower tax-GDP ratio in the country. These are: huge number of tax exemptions and its misuses, short tax net for income tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) and operational inefficiency. No VAT on purchases at supershops: NBR The revenue collecting chief said that due to the tax exemption culture, the NBR gives away the same amount of money that it collects by taxation. “We do not want to incur tax expenditure freshly,” he said. Abdur Rahman Khan said that if anyone makes small profit then that person  will give lower tax, that is the main ethos of the tax administration. He also said that due to the lack of automation, the NBR is still doing many of its duties manually. Single-window digital trade hits a milestone: NBR While placing a budget proposal for the NOAB, its president AK Azad demanded reducing import duty on newsprint to two percent, imposing VAT at 5 percent instead of 15 percent and write off corporate tax or make it nominal on newspaper industry considering it as a service industry. Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman and Financial Express Editor Shamsul Huq Zahid also spoke.

The Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) has proposed a 70 percent tax on all types of cigarettes and tobacco in the next budget. The association reckons that doing so will reduce smoking by about 66 percent, alongside generating revenue of Tk1,700 crore for state coffers. The proposal was submitted to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) during the pre-budget discussion held at the NBR Building on Sunday (February 18). The General Secretary of the BEA Professor Dr. Md. Aynul Islam presented the budget proposal. Vice President of the association Professor Hannana Begum was present. Read more: Govt cut VAT, duty on import of 4 essential items ahead of Ramadan According to the BEA's proposal, imposing a single supplementary duty of 70 percent on all types of cigarettes would increase the price of cigarettes by an average of 130 percent. Smoking will be reduced by 66 percent. About 70 lakh smokers will quit smoking, and about 71 lakh young people will stop habituating to smoking. Also, the additional tax revenue of the government will be earned at least Tk1700 crores, the proposal stated. Similarly, the BEA demanded to impose a tax of 70 percent on all types of tobacco products including smokeless tobacco such as jorda, gul, sadapata, etc. On the other hand, in the case of bidi, if the tax is imposed at the rate of Tk 4.90 on the retail price of every 25 shalak (piece) packet, the government will be able to collect additional revenue of Tk 800 crore. Read more: ICMAB delegation takes part in pre-budget discussion with NBR The BEA thinks with such a tax increase; revenue earning will be raised and it would help to revive the economy from the ongoing economic crisis. The BEA has a total of 27 new sources of revenue income. At this time, Prof Aynul said, as a method of gathering resources for the upcoming budget, no pressure can be applied on the general population, such as the poor, lower class, lower middle class, and middle class. Due to various reasons, this class of people is now in a severe economic crisis. It would be unfair at this moment to rely completely on them as in the past for tax collection. In that case, the imposition of additional income tax on these three groups – the super-rich, the rich, and the upper-middle class – can be considered, said Prof Aynul. Read more: PROGGA, ATMA for imposing specific taxes on tobacco products