Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) President Naser Ezaz Bijoy on Wednesday said the FY24 budget is not conducive to investors, and will have implications for the businesses and workers in Bangladesh.
"Investors look for net benefit before investments. We frequently urged the government to reduce tax rate and widen the tax net. The new budget was not as conducive to businessmen as it should have been," the FICCI president said at a press conference in Dhaka.
Naser also urged the government, particularly the National Board of Revenue (NBR), to consult with businesses before forming laws and called for reduction of tax burden on individuals & corporates to face economic headwinds.
"We propose reduction of arbitrary power of officers in tax procedure and suggested implementation of comprehensive digitalization of the three wings of NBR and externally connected systems for seamless transaction," he mentioned.
Naser then said, “Increased tax on property will instigate people not to disclose the real property price in the formal document, instead they will use the Mouza rate. This can deprive the government of a huge source of tax.
“This is why property tax should be brought down substantially instead of increasing the transaction cost. It should be brought down substantially and Mouza value must be periodically updated to reflect the market price.”
He added, “We expected gradual withdrawal of minimum tax provisions in the new law, instead it has been increased significantly, particularly in the carbonated Beverage Industry from 0.6 per cent to 5 per cent of Gross Receipts (8X increase). This will result in a price hike of 30 per cent or more.
“The industry already faces a customs duty in the range of 5 per cent – 10 per cent and Indirect Tax (SD+VAT) of 43.75 per cent, which is the highest across South Asian countries.”
“This will result in a fall in consumption and reduction in government tax collection subsequently and eventually impact FDI plans and industry employment. Therefore, the government is requested to rationalise the minimum tax to 1 per cent to allow the industry to grow,” Naser pointed out.
