Bangladesh Garment Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGAPMEA) has urged the government to bring down corporate tax rate from 35% to 12%.BGAPMEA President Abdul Kader Khan said this while commenting on the proposed budget for the fiscal year FY 2019-20 on Saturday.He said: “Bringing down the tax rate will boost exports, and attract new investments.”“In the national export policy, direct and indirect exporters are entitled to enjoy the same benefits but in the proposed budget for the FY2019-20, the corporate tax for the garment accessories sector remains at 35% despite our contribution to apparel export,” Kader said.He further said: “The knitwear and woven products exporters are paying 12% corporate tax which is 10% for certified green factory owners and 15% for the textile industry.” Meanwhile, the accessories makers also urged the government to keep the tax at source rate 0.25%. “In the outgoing budget, the government set tax at source at 1%, which was lowered to 0.25% in response to the sector people’s demand, which will expire on June 30, 2019,” Kader added.“As the government did not propose the existing rate in the budget, the apparel makers have to pay 1% source tax from the next fiscal,” he said.Furthermore, Kader said: “To reduce risk and to develop a secured overall working environment, we express our thanks, and gratitude to the government for declaring 0% tax on fire fighting instruments for few industries, and institutions.” “We hope that the prime minister’s declaration on reducing the bank interest to a single digit will soon be implemented. “As per the proposed budget, the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) will get more facilities to launch and continue their business, which will benefit us as a SME association, the BGAPMEA said.
