Finance minister AMA Muhith has turned down a proposal for widening tax benefit for investors and developers of the hi-tech park. His rejection came after the ministry of post, telecommunication and ICT recently requested the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to offer Value Added Tax (VAT) waiver up to 80 per cent to developers of utility services and IT/ITES (information technology and information technology-enabled services) companies of the hi-tech park. Following the request, the NBR sent a summary to the finance minister for his consent. On the basis of the summary, the finance minister declined to give his nod to further tax exemption to the hi-tech park developers as there are already some tax benefits for investors in the park. On October 8, 2015, the NBR offered 100 per cent tax exemption facility to supply of services, at production stage, for investors. It also offered 80 per cent VAT exemption for power supply services. “I think, there is no necessity of offering further tax exemption,” the finance minister commented on the summary. The ICT division, in a letter, sought 80 per cent VAT exemption on gas and water services to be made available to investors in the hi-tech park. For developers of the park, the division pleaded for 80 per cent VAT exemption to gas, water and power supply services. It also sought 100 per cent VAT exemption for suppliers in the park, except petroleum products. In the letter, the ICT division sought similar facility as the NBR offered to the Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA). In the summary to the finance minister, the NBR said the tax authority will have to offer a fresh tax exemption to the investors of the hi-tech park for availing gas and water services. The NBR also will have to offer VAT exemption on water, power supply and suppliers of services to the developers. However, the NBR also expressed its reservation on offering 100 per cent tax exemption as sought by the ICT division. “NBR never offered more than 80 per cent VAT exemption, in principle, on gas, water and power supply to any sector earlier,” the NBR said in the summary. The ICT division sought the VAT exemption in a bid to offer power, gas and water supply to the investors of hi-tech park at cheaper price. Currently, the Kaliakoir hi-tech park is under construction. It is located at Kaliakoir upazila in Gazipur district, only 40km away from the capital. The proposed park is set to be located on a-232 acre land at a cost of over US$207 million.
