Staff Reporter :
The entrepreneurs of the country’s export-oriented industries on Thursday demanded simplified Value-Added Tax (VAT) system in order to increase export growth.
They placed the demand in a meeting with the representative of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in the conference room of the revenue board in the capital.
The businesses led by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Jashim Uddin termed the country’s VAT system very complicated and high rated, making the country’s business difficult.
“The complicated and high rate of VAT system is hampering the business activities in the country. It needs to be simplified and to be reduced in line with increasing export growth,” said Mohammad Hatem, Executive President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association (BKMEA).
Hatem, a participant in the meeting, also said that they have urged the revenue board to ensure good governance in tax system for the sake of the country’s economy.
About continuation of the back-to-back LC facilitation for the non-bonded apparel factories, they said if the back-to-back LC benefit goes, more than 500 RMG and home textile factories will no longer be able to procure raw materials and accessories from local and foreign sources on credit. In a back-to-back LC, an importer issues an LC to an exporter and the exporter can use it as collateral to get another LC issued for sourcing raw materials and accessories on credit.
If the facility goes, RMG and home textile factories will have to make full payments plus VAT in cash for local purchases, which will make their survival very difficult, they added.
The entrepreneurs of the export-oriented industries said they are facing harassment in transporting goods by tax officials across the country and it needs to be stopped immediately.
“A hassle-free transportation of the export orient goods should be ensured,” Hatem said.
The businesses also urged the NBR to expedite automation activities to bring transparency in collecting revenue.
All kind of purchases of the export-oriented industries, including industrial rack, need to be out of VAT, they demanded.
BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim and Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) Chairperson Abul Kasem Khan, among others, were present.
