AdminDhaka, March 01, 2023: The Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(FICCI) have placed their proposal at a pre-budget consultation meeting organized
by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Wednesday, 1st March 2023.
FICCI delegation led by the President Naser Ezaz Bijoy, members of Board of
Directors, committee members and executive director attended the meeting at the
Rajashwa Bhaban in city's Agargaon.
NBR chairman Abu Hena Md. Rahmatul Muneem Presided over
the meeting while respected members and senior officials of NBR were also participated.
In the consultation meeting FICCI President Naser Ezaz
Bijoy proposed for reduction of effective tax rate. He said, “The effective tax rate prevailing
in our country is extravagant. Though the applicable corporate tax is 20% and
27.5% for the publicly traded and private limited company respectively,
effective tax rate is much higher due to the implication of 30B, 82C (2) and
deduction of tax at source. Therefore, we are proposing to reduce the effective
tax rate in conjunction with the tax rate in our neighboring countries.”
FICCI also recommended for Rationalization of Tax
Deduction at Source (TDS). President stated, “In certain cases, TDS is
considered minimum tax for that source of income. Even though the corporate tax
is reduced to 27.5% after maintaining certain conditions, still the business is
unable to recap the benefits. Therefore, the impact of minimum tax against TDS
should be rationalized.”
He suggested to use DVS system to identify income and
expense which can be useful to rationalize TDS and eliminate TDS from the
minimum tax provision gradually.
Regarding digitalization and integration Naser Ezaz Bijoy
appreciated some initiatives taken by NBR to digitalize the regular routine
work such as return submission, Acknowledgement and return submission
confirmation, A- challan on TDS etc.
Meantime, he also expressed concern that they are
observing the digitalization process is very slow. He recommended to implement
the digitalization at all levels so that taxpayer’s hassle will be minimized. For
instance, online hearing in assessment, CTA, TAT, ADR.
Chamber’s President mentioned, “at present every
registered person is required to issue a tax invoice (Section 6.3) manually
while making supplies. The current process is consuming time as well as an
obstacle to the pathway of digitalization. If we look into the world economy,
our national economy is doing well in comparison to the world market. Hence,
the technique used to gather Mushak must adhere to international standards.”
He recommended to the development of an automated VAT
challan, also known as an E-Invoice or Electronic VAT challan, which must
replace the need for a manual tax challan. The implementation of this system
will make it much simpler for taxpayers to conduct business while also making
it much simpler to oversee the tax authorities and taxpayers. Hence, Issuance
of tax invoices (Mushak-6.3) should be automated, and E-Invoice or Electronic
VAT challan should be introduced,” added by the President.
FICCI President opined that, by correctly implementing
the customs assessment rules, duties should be calculated depending on the
exchange rate. Only in exceptional circumstances, where it is impossible to
identify the exchange rate, should the following guidelines ensure that they are
applied in light of the rules as explained.
To acquire up-to-date information about the global
market, our further recommendation is to subscribe to the NBR product database,
he added.
President said, “We have observed over the last few years that NBR has changed the HS codes for various products that is complete disagreement of WCO HS code’s guidelines. For reclassification variation, the importer is suffering huge cost on importation. Therefore, we are recommending to remove this sorts of reclassification on the products HS Code.”
About FICCI
The Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is the apex chamber of more than 200 multinational companies and foreign investors from thirty-five (35) nations across the globe in more than Twenty-one (21) sectors in Bangladesh. As a key economic partner of Bangladesh, FICCI has been working closely with the Government, through streamlining and enabling cross-border trade and investment, disseminating useful research-driven market intelligence and through supporting regulation that benefits its membership.
For any clarifications regarding the above, kindly get in touch with:
T.I.M
Nurul Kabir
Executive
Director
Foreign
Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
Mobile No: +880 1711-563977, TnT No: +8802222271610,
+8802222271611
Fax:
+8802222271609
Email: info@ficci.org.bd,
Website: www.ficci.org.bd
