Manufacturers of slippers, plastic and rubber shoes on Sunday took to the street to press home their demand for reinstating Value Added Tax (VAT) exemption from sandals valued up to Tk 120. Several hundred demonstrators of Bangladesh Paduka Prostutkarok Samity (BPPS) came up with the demand at a rally arranged in front of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) building in the city’s Motijheel. The government proposed VAT exemption facilities on the sector’s products valued up to Tk 100 instead of Tk 120 in the budget for FY 2016-17. Speaking at the rally, BPPS President Shakhawat Hossain Belal said the government has imposed 15 per cent VAT on plastic, rubber and rexine made shoes valued up to Tk 100 instead of Tk 120, which is “very discriminatory” for the local manufacturers. He said the sector-related entrepreneurs manufacture sandal and slippers for low income people by recycling plastic and rubber wastes that add value to the country’s economy. Around 300,000 semi-skilled and unskilled people are employed in the industry, playing a vital role in cleaning the environment by recycling waste products, he added.
