Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association on Sunday demanded to reduce the source at tax at the rate of 0.50 per cent from existing 0.70 per cent for the readymade garment sector for next two years. The BKMEA president AKM Salim Osman said that there was no indication in the proposed budget on changing the rate of tax at source and if the government would not issue further SRO the tax would be one per cent after June 30 which will affect the knit sector badly. He demanded to reduce the corporate tax at the rate of 10 per cent from the proposed 15 per cent for the sector. Salim also said that the government should set corporate tax at single digit for the green factories for next five years. ‘Fifteen per cent single rate of value-added tax disappointed the entrepreneurs of knitwear sector and it will increase the production cost of knitwear industry,’ the BKMEA president said. He demanded 10 per cent unified rate for VAT and to issue a circular in this regard. The BKMEA president expressed his concern over the price hike of gas and said that the recent hike of gas price would affect production and price competitiveness. Salim urged the government to review the decision for hiking gas price. The BKMEA president also demanded to withdraw the proposed 5 per cent import duty on fire fighting equipments and prefabricated building materials. Considering the declining export growth, Salim Osman urged the government to include the proposals of the BKMEA in the budget.
