Raising free income tax limit

The Ministry of Finance is preparing the national budget for 2014-15 fiscal year, which will be presented in parliament as a finance bill. In the current year, the minimum income tax limit is Tk 2, 20,000. I would like to draw attention to the government that real income of fixed income group people, particularly the service holders, in Bangladesh have reduced to a significant extent in the last couple of years as more than 10 per cent inflation (price increase of services and products) has affected each year.

The business community is indeed happy as they could shift the burden of price increase to the buyers of products or services. They have not only shifted the increased portion of inflation but also added more along with cost to have additional profit. Inflation brings more money to business community.

But the fixed income groups of peoples (mainly service holders) are helpless. They have to bear the whole burden as their salaries do not increase instantly in relation to the inflation. Consequently, they have to reduce purchase of goods and services they need. The fixed income group people are very unhappy confronting gradual and continuous price increase of all essential products and services.

To reduce sufferings of the lower middle class people of fixed income group, the free income tax limit should be re-fixed at Tk 3, 00,000 per annum. This limit is very conservative as it is very difficult even to run a four-member family at Tk 25, 000 per month.

Under the circumstances, I would like to urge the government to raise the free tax limit to Tk 3, 00,000 per annum for individual from FY 2014-2015.

Md Ashraf Hossain

Ramna, Dhaka

mah120cb@yahoo.com