Staff Reporter :
Businesses on Sunday demanded for increasing tax-free income limit to Tk 4 lakh aligning with the current per capita income and inflation.
They said the allocation of social safety nets needs to increase from the current level to a reasonable amount.
In the proposed budget the allocation for social safety net has increased from Tk 1,07,614 crore in FY22 to Tk 1,13,576 crore considering the twin affects of the Russia-Ukraine war and the pandemic.
“Moreover, natural disasters such as floods which we are going through right now will also be another challenge for the country. Hence, we suggest increasing the social safety net budget from the current level to a reasonable amount,” Md Saiful Islam, President of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI), said.
He further said the personal income tax thresholds have remained unaddressed, which we thought should have been subject to changes, especially with the tax-free threshold.
Considering the increase in per capita income to $2,824, we believe the personal income tax threshold should be increased to Tk 400,000, he added in a statement on Sunday.
MCCI would have preferred some suggestions for the structural reforms of the VAT Law and their incorporation into the main VAT Law, 2012, as the chamber had been asking for it since long, he said.
The govt took the decision to whitening the black money with no questions asked by simply paying a certain amount of tax. Such actions always discourage the honest entrepreneurs and citizens, he said.
Besides, the MCCI president said the minimum turnover tax should be removed, as that leads to double taxation. Services such as construction infrastructure which generate employment, should have their tax-deducted-at-source (TDS) rates reduced. This TDS could be maintained at the TDS level of supply of goods in the current circumstances, he said.
Achieving the $80 billion export target, Export Development Fund (EDF) level should be lifted to at least $10 billion from $7.5 billion and be made accessible to all exporters, the MCCI president said.
Saiful said, “We still see many eligible organizations remaining outside the purview of tax, because of which taxpaying businesses are being burdened with more and more taxes. So, this should be addressed soon.”
“The Chamber will be happy to see crypto assets being allowed for investment as those will create more jobs in the country,” he said.
He said business-friendly budgets will help Bangladesh’s trade and investment. As we march towards the developing country’s status in 2026, allocating funds in the right areas and improving the revenue generation will become even more important.
