The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry has requested the National Board of Revenue to raise the tax-free income limit for individual taxpayers, to reduce tax at source on export and to withdraw advance income tax on import of capital machinery, basic raw materials and intermediate goods. In its revised budget proposals related to income tax, value-added tax and customs duty, the apex trade body has suggested that the NBR lower the tax at source on export proceeds to 0.60 per cent from the 1.5 per cent proposed in the national budget for the next fiscal year and increase tax-free income to Tk 3 lakh from the current Tk 2.5 lakh. FBCCI president Abdul Matlub Ahmad recently sent the proposals to NBR chairman Md Nojibur Rahman.The FBCCI also demanded that the government keep the investment ceiling for tax rebate unchanged or make the provision effective from the fiscal year of 2017-2018 instead of the next fiscal year. Finance minister AMA Muhith in his budget statement proposed a reduction in the investment ceiling eligible for tax rebate to 20 per cent from the current 30 per cent. Though the FBCCI president at a post-budget briefing had highly criticised the government saying that most of the budget proposals the trade body made were not considered and threatened not to attend pre-budget discussion with the NBR in future, in the letter to the NBR he praised the revenue board for accepting some of the FBCCI proposals. ‘We think there is a scope for considering some other recommendations made by the FBCCI,’ he wrote in the letter. The FBCCI also proposed lowering the corporate tax rate for apparel exporters to 10 per cent from the proposed 20 per cent. The trade body also proposed keeping the amount of VAT required to be paid for filing VAT-related cases unchanged at 10 per cent from the proposed 50 per cent. The FBCCI also demanded that the NBR keep VAT-free handmade bread valued up to Tk 100 a kilogram and slipper made of rubber and plastic up to Tk 120 a pair. On the other hand, the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday said that the proposed budget did not outline potential sources of revenue collection though the government set a highly excessive collection target for the next fiscal year. In a statement, the DCCI said that the high target of collection of VAT at Tk 74,000 crore would increase tax burden on mass people. Failure in realising expected tax collection may hamper the regular government expenditure and annual development programme implementation, it said.The trade body also proposed that the government take steps to increase tax net to meet the high revenue collection target.
