Former Dhaka University professor and economist Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud has said that personal income tax thresholds remain unaddressed in the Budget FY2022-23, and the government needs to make clear directives regarding the minimum tax-free income threshold.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Dr Wahiduddin narrated an anecdote about the dilemma of raising his driver's salary, which would put his income within the threshold of taxable income.
"It is ridiculous to put millions of lower-income people under the tax net on paper without any effective measures to prevent tax evasion by the upper-class or upper-middle-class people or checking corruption in the tax administration," he remarked.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday placed the proposed budget with an outlay of Tk 6,78,064 crore in parliament. Despite calls from various quarters to increase the tax-free income limit for individuals, the government kept unchanged the amount of Tk 3,00,000 per annum.
In the proposed budget, the finance minister said that the tax-exempt income ceiling is even higher for females, senior citizens, physically challenged, third gender people and injured freedom fighters.
However, the ceiling of tax-free income has been raised by Tk 50,000 to Tk 3,50,000 for members of the transgender community to facilitate their social inclusion.
