The government on Monday waived Value Added Tax (VAT) on all types of edible oil to try to rein in the soaring prices of the essential commodity. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a gazette notification in this regard. The notification stated that this tax relief will be effective from Monday. Traders will get this facility till next June 30. The traders have been demanding withdrawal of VAT at the import stage, but the NBR notification did not say anything about import. Earlier on Thursday, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told a reporter after a government procurement meeting that the VAT has been withdrawn to control the market prices of edible oil. Also read: Consider maximum cut in import VAT on edible oil: Cabinet directs NBR Later, the finance minister said that the tariffs on essential commodities including edible oil, sugar and peas will be withdrawn soon. The NBR imposed 15 per cent VAT on soybean at production level and 5 per cent at the consumer level. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi at a press briefing at his secretariat on the occasion of consumers’ rights day said that VAT on edible oil imports will be reduced by 10 per cent and VAT at the consumer level by 5 per cent. Also read: 5-litre can of soybean oil: The best gift a newly married couple could get At the same time, 15 per cent VAT will be withdrawn at the edible oil production level, he said.

The price of private operators' liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been increased by Tk 62 to 1,240 from Tk 1178 per 12-kg container with effect from 6 pm today (Thursday, Feb 3) at the retail level, including the value added tax (VAT). Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) announced the new price at a press briefing on Thursday. Read: LPG gets cheaper by Tk 50 per 12-kg container As per the announcement, the prices for other quantities of the LPG will also go up in line with the new price at the same ratio. The price of autogas for motor vehicles has also gone up to Tk 57.51 from the present price of Tk 54.95 per litre. Making the announcement, BERC Chairman Abdul Jalil said the price of retail LPG has witnessed the rise as the bulk LPG of Saudi contract price (CP) has increased globally at the effect of volatility due to Covid-19 recovery trend and also for the brewing tensions between Ukraine and Russia. "Saudi CP price will go up to $775 from the previous price of $420 per metric ton. Bangladesh's private LPG operators buy the bulk LPG on the basis of the Saudi CP," he told reporters at the virtual briefing. The other members of the BERC were present on the occasion. The BERC chairman said the price of the state-owned LP Gas Company's LPG will remain unchanged as it has no relation with the global market price. Read: Private operators’ LPG: Price goes up again According to industry insiders, the Saudi CP is normally announced at the end of every month to make it effective for the next month, and it takes 7-10 days for a shipment of the fuel to arrive in the country. Most Bangladeshi private companies import their bulk LPG from the Middle East on the basis of Saudi CP and market it locally. The BERC for the first time fixed the retail-level LPG price on April 12 after holding a public hearing to comply with a High Court order.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will honour 9 firms on the National VAT Day for paying highest amount  of Value Added Tax (VAT). The VAT department of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Wednesday released a list of awardees. Earlier the Economic Relations Division (ERD) published a gazette notification in this regard. Read:NBR to organize month-long tax support service from Nov 1 December 10 is celebrated as the National VAT Day every year. The NBR will honour the highest tax payers of the fiscal year 2019-20 on this day. Nine firms under three categories- production, business and service- will receive the awards at a ceremony in Dhaka. The list of awardees includes Aristopharma Limited, Square Toiletries Limited and Maya Bidi Factory under the production category, SM Motors, AMCO Bajaj International and Union Motors Limited under business category and IDTCO Bangladesh Co. Ltd. Gray Advertising Ltd. and Robert Boss (Bangladesh) Ltd under service category. The VAT department of the National Board of Revenue has been regularly honoring the top VAT payers for several years. Read: NBR directs big push to reach the revenue target for current fiscal Business establishments which have Electronic Business Identification Number (EBIN), issue regular VAT receipts to the consumers and regularly deposit the collected VAT money in the government treasury are considered eligible for the award. NBR will also honour 102 companies in the three categories as the top VAT payers at the district level.

Some 88 percent of shops still remain out of the Value Added Tax (VAT) net, according to a recent survey conducted by the VAT Intelligence and Investigation Directorate. Out of 1,024 shops at eight markets in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Savar, 904 shops don’t pay VAT as per the study findings. Three teams of the VAT Intelligence completed the survey on Thursday, said a release on Friday. Read NBR faces uphill task in achieving VAT collection target Among the 1024 shops, the number of VAT registered shops is only 120. Of the VAT registered shops, only 45 ones pay above Tk 5,000 as VAT, while the remaining 75 shops pay less than Tk 5,000. But the survey teams got evidence that evethe payments of the shoppers who deposit VAT mismatched with their operation costs and profit of the shops. In some cases, the shoppers collected VAT from buyers but didn’t pay to the government fund properly. Read Covid-19 impact: NBR devises ways to boost revenue collection The eight markets are Mark Tower, Somobay New Market, Sayeem Plaza, Al Hakim (Popular) Centre in Narayanganj; City Centre in Savar; and Tropical Alauddin Tower and RK Shopping Complex at Uttara and Suvastu Nazar Valley at Badda in Dhaka. But 500 shops at Suvastu Nazar Valley were mandatorily registered on Thursday. Deputy Director of the Intelligence Tanvir Ahmed led the survey in Narayanganj, while it’s Assistant Director Munwar Mursalin in Dhaka and assistant director Malekin Nasir Akand in Savar. A total of 42 intelligence officials took part in this work. Read How Covid has caused a dent in Bangladesh's coffers According to the survey report, shoppers outside Dhaka are more reluctant to pay VAT and less interested to follow the VAT laws. Conducting another survey in two AC markets –-Index Plaza and Jaman Shopping Complex-- in Narsingdi on May 25 last, it found that all the 237 shops in the two markets don’t pay VAT.

The High Court on Sunday issued a 5-point directive to collect all kinds of due revenues, including value added tax (VAT) and tax, from internet based companies including Facebook, Google.

Amid the slowdown in economic activities due to the coronavirus pandemic, noted economists suggest the government must be more imaginative and tactful to get close to meeting the ambitious target of revenue collection set for the current fiscal.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Thursday introduced Value Added Tax (VAT) e-payment system aiming to simplify the VAT return submission process.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is going to introduce e-Payment system for Value Added Tax (VAT) from July 16, aiming to reduce the hassles in payment by VAT payers. 

The government has opted to clamp down on the Value Added Tax (VAT), specially from the 40 lakh small and medium enterprises, for increasing its revenue collection in the coming days.