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Textile millers on Wednesday demanded duty-free import facility for all elements of man-made fibres (MMF) and recycle fibres in the next national budget of fiscal year 2022-23.
A Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) delegation headed by its President Mohammad Ali Khokon met Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) at NBR conference room in this regard.
BTMA in their budget proposal, stated that Bangladesh produces around 25 per cent of MMFs while the rate of global MMF use is around 70 per cent.
The demand of recycle goods has hiked due to reduced water consumption while Germany has made it mandatory to use 25 per cent of recycle fibres triggering a boost in the export facility.
“Both in domestic and international markets, different types of apparel products are made with manmade and recycled fibres. They are becoming more popular to the consumers due to their comfort, fancy and comparatively reasonable price,” BTMA president said.
“Considering these issues, we demanded withdrawal of all kind of duty from the MMF element import sector,” he added.
BTMA also demanded Tk 3 value added tax (VAT) for per kilograms of all kinds of yarns regardless of fiber while currently, a miller has to pay Tk 6 VAT for yarns made of man-made and other fibres.
The association proposed withdrawal of 15 per cent VAT and 5 per cent advanced tax on pet chip (textile grade), therapeutic acid and ethylene glycol.
On top of that, BTMA demanded withdrawal of 2 per cent tax on cotton purchase from local sources.
It also asked the authorities to allow 17 per cent and 30 per cent cotton waste from 10 per cent and 12 per cent to produce carded and combed yarns, respectively.
The platform of the primary textile sector also sought 15 per cent income tax for the sector till 2026.
As there is no scope of misuse, the textile millers called for imposition of 1 per cent duty on imports of spare parts in the next budget, stated the BTMA leader in the budget proposal.
Currently, millers have to pay 26.2 per cent to 104.68 per cent import duty on spare parts used in textile mills. However, they pay 1 per cent duty on import of capital machinery.
Meanwhile, former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) representatives and NBR officials were also present there.
BKMEA leaders urged the government to keep tax at source at 0.5 per cent and treat it as the final settlement.
Earlier, the government increased tax at source to 0.50 per cent from 0.25 per cent in FY 2020-21 and kept it unchanged in the current budget. BKMEA Executive President Mohammad Hatem has submitted their budget proposal while its Vice President Fazlee Shamim Ehsan were present.
In reply NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem said, “We always consider readymade garment and textile sector positively due to its massive contributions. So we will examine your proposal about MMF.”
“But our fear is that Bangladesh may become a dumping zone for used goods and fail to maintain its quality; if the textile mills start producing recycle fibres massively.”, he said.
