The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB), a platform representing all telecom operators in the country, presented 16 proposals including a reduction of the corporate tax rate on mobile phone operating companies in the  next budget. "We propose to remove or reduce the minimum tax. Mobile operators are required to pay a minimum tax of 2% of their annual gross revenue which is in conflict with the Income Tax Act. Paying minimum tax despite loss in business means paying tax out of capital which is a barrier to business expansion," AMTOB Secretary General Brig Gen (retd) SM Farhad said during the pre-budget discussion meeting with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Sunday. AMTOB also proposed to withdraw the minimum turnover tax and abolish the tax of Tk200 imposed on SIM cards. "There is no alternative to removing or reducing the minimum tax in favour of sustaining the industry and building the Digital Bangladesh, as announced by the government," he added. "The high rate of corporate tax should be reduced. The general corporate tax rate in the country is 27.5% for unlisted companie and 20% to 22.5% for listed companies. However, despite being an essential service, Bangladesh's mobile sector has to pay a high rate of corporate tax. The tax rate is 40% for listed mobile operators and 45% for unlisted companies," he added. "In terms of taxation, instead of classifying mobile operators as a separate category, we demand that they be reorganised in line with other companies and that the tax be reduced at that rate," he further said. The AMTOB Secretary General also said that the mobile phone  sector is one of the sectors that provide the most revenue to the government in Bangladesh. "We need to remember that the top three operators in the mobile sector are all foreign investors and their contribution to the socioeconomic development of the country is immense,” he said.  He said that from the main source of people's telecommunication and internet access to banking, mobile money, ride sharing, e-commerce, education, or e-courier, all sectors are directly or indirectly dependent on mobile.  “As the growth of mobile service providers increases, customers will get better quality services and the government will get more revenue," he added. "Even then it is seen that the government is imposing new taxes every year in this sector. If the growth of the mobile sector is not encouraged by rationally considering the taxation system of the mobile sector, it will have an impact on all other sectors," SM Fahad added. Besides, there is no clear guideline for VAT removal for Govt. regulatory organisations as per new VAT & SD ACT 2012. Government agencies and regulators are not following VAT- control proportionately.  “For this reason, operators are ultimately suffering. There needs a clear guideline for solving this problem,” he said.  He said that there is no separate  HS coding system for telecom machinery, equipment and software , and the organisations have to import under different HS code. “HS coding systems are currently hampering telecom operators' antenna designing and customisation solutions. This complicates unreasonable tax assessments and VAT rebates,” he added. 

The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) on Thursday approved some 13 procurement proposals including import of sugar and fertilizer. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the virtual meeting while other members of the committee attended it. As per the proposal placed by the Commerce Ministry, its subordinate body Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will import 12,500 metric tons of sugar from Brazil. Local company JMI Export-Import will supply the sugar from Brazil at a total value of Tk 65.98 crore with per metric ton costing at $524. State marketing agency Trading Corporation of Bangladesh(TCB) moved to import the bulk sugar amid the growing price of such essential commodity. As per the proposal of the Agriculture Ministry, its subordinate body Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) will import 100,000 MT of MOP fertilizer from a Polish company at a contract value of 906.69 crore. The Ministry of Industries placed a proposal to procure 30,000 MT of bagged granular urea fertilizer from local company Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Ltd (Kafco) at contract value of Tk 191.03 crore.  Read more: Bangladesh to buy fertiliser at lower cost, thanks to declining global price Another similar proposal of the BCIC for the import of 30,000 MT of bulk granular urea from Muntajat of Qatar at a cost of Tk 201.78 crore under state contract also received the approval of the CCGP. The Primary and Mass Education Ministry’s proposal to award Tk 25.89 crore contract of the National Curriculum and Textbooks Board (NCTB) to different contractors for printing, binding and supplying 75.93 lakh of Bangla and English version of textbooks for 3d, 4th and 5th grades of students also received the nod of the CCGP. The committee approved two separate proposals of the Shipping Ministry to award contracts for dredging of different rivers under different lots. Three proposals of the Roads and Highways Department were placed by the Roads Transport and Highways Division for the meeting which received approval of the committee. Of these, the Roads and Highways Department will award a Tk 269.87 crore contract to Joint Venture of 1. ICT; 2. IRD; and 3. SHELADIA to appoint a consultant for the Dhaka Dhaka-Sylhet Corridor Development project under South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (Sasec). Read  more: TCB to procure 1.65 cr litres of edible oil from local suppliers again It will award Tk 896.81 crore contract to Joint Venture of 1. Enez, Turkey and 2. TCCL, Bangladesh for civil construction works under Lot No-DS-11 of WP-06 package of the Sasec. A contract of Tk 576.05 crore will be awarded by the Roads and Highways Department to Sinohydro Engineering Bureau 8 Corporation Ltd., China for lot No-DSA of the package-6 of the Sasec project.  

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase (CCPP) in a meeting on Thursday approved a total of eight procurement proposals including construction of 10-km bi-level road in Munshiganj. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the virtual meeting while members of the committee attended it. While briefing reporters on the outcomes of the meeting Additional secretary of the Cabinet Division Shamsul Arefin said the committee has approved a proposal of the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) to award a contract for construction of the bi-road from Narayanganj's Panchabati to Munshiganj's Muktarpur Bridge. Chinese joint-venture of (1) Shandong Iuqiao Group Co. Ltd and (2) China Shandong International Economic and Technical Cooperation group Ltd., obtained the project at a cost of Tk 1206.06 crore. The widening of the existing road over which the bi-level will be built was also included in the project. He said the bi-level road is not a new one in Bangladesh as the existing Dhaka Elevated Expressway is a similar kind of project. He said that toll-plaza and other facilities are also included in the project. Another Chinese firm - Joint Venture of (1) National Development Engineers Ltd and (2) China Gezhouba Group Company Ltd obtained a contract  for construction of new diagnostic imaging centres at medical colleges in 7 divisions at Tk 401.78 crore. Two proposals of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) received the clearance of the cabinet body to award contracts for supplying suction dredgers. Of these, the BIWTA will procure two 24-inch cutter suction dredgers and associated equipment from Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd at a cost of Tk 212.63 crore while it will procure two similar kinds of dredgers and associated equipment from  Karnafuly Shipbuilders Ltd at Tk 213.61 crore. The Cabinet body approved a proposal of the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) to import 30,000 metric tons of phosphoric acid at a cost of Tk 231.68 crore. Two proposals of the Bangladesh Computer Council under the ICT Division received nod for raising costs of its two projects for construction of computer infrastructure at 2600 unions across the country. For this, Tk 42.83 crore will be raised for a project being implemented at 1293 unions while Tk 32,96 crore for another projects covering 1307 unions.