Govt may withdraw proposed duty on computer, accessories

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Shakhawat Hossain
The government may withdraw the proposal for imposing duty on computer and its accessories in the context of a large number of requests received from the members of the public for such a withdrawal, an official source in the ministry of finance (MoF) said.
Among some 1000 electronic mails (e-mail) and some 60 postal reactions to the proposed fiscal proposals for the forthcoming financial year (FY), received until Sunday, the last day for receipt of the 10-day feedback period, one common suggestion was for keeping the computer and its products duty-free.
Without specifying any rate, Finance and Planning Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam proposed to bring the computer and computer related items under duty structure from the existing zero-rated facility.
Apart from the demand on computer, the businesses also suggested for withdrawal of proposed duties on the import of capital machinery including those related to textile and garment related equipment, the source added.
The withdrawal of zero-tariff duty on the import of capital machinery and fixation of the lowest duty-slab at 10 per cent were proposed by the finance and planning adviser in his budget speech for the forthcoming fiscal.
A MoF official said the government is reconsidering the budgetary proposal relating to computer and its accessories, as the product is very sensitive and considered one of the key tools in the modern era of information communication technology (ICT).
The official, however, could not confirm whether the suggestions for withdrawal of the import of capital machinery would be endorsed without further close scrutiny.
However, an official of the National Board of Revenue said the government should withdraw duty on the clone-computer and its accessories.
The imposition of duty on such low-segment computer products may affect the price and hurt the middle class people who are the main users of such computers, said the official.
The official expressed the view that brand computers and other high-category computers used for the commercial purposes in banks, business houses, and advertising and multi-media companies should be subjected to duty.
The MoF that extended the period for receipt of feedback for additional three days, received around 834 responses until Saturday.
This was for the first time in the country's history that the MoF sought opinions and suggestions from members of the public on the proposed budget -- a full-fledged one -- under a caretaker government (CG).
The move was appreciated by many who considered it as the reflection of transparency on the part of the present caretaker administration.
The MoF formed two committees headed by additional secretaries and six sub-committees to monitor the opinions and suggestions.
The committees, which are assigned to monitor and scrutinise the suggestions and opinions relating to proposed fiscal measures on agriculture, industry, financial and business institutes separately, will examine the feedbacks and will submit their views, the source said.
Sources said apart from the opinions and suggestions from the general and experts groups, the MoF will also review the opinions and suggestions that have been ventilated through the media.
The government has still twelve more days to review the budgetary proposals as the new fiscal will begin on July 1.