The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has selected few tax measures of the recently proposed Indian budget to scrutinise and consider those for upcoming budget of Bangladesh for Fiscal Year 2015-16.
Major measures in direct taxes include limit for tax-free income for individual taxpayers, highest tax rates, withdrawal of wealth tax, checking black money, tax rates for co-operative society, education cess etc.
The NBR placed a report last week to Finance Minister AMA Muhith with an analysis of Indian budget.
In a letter to the finance minister, NBR chairman Nojibur Rahman sought his instruction to consider the measures, keeping the country's development policy and strategies in mind, for the next budget (FY 2015-16).
The revenue board chief has sent letters to all of the commissioners in Income tax, Value Added Tax (VAT) and Customs wing across the country seeking their opinion for framing the next budget in the context of Bangladesh with selected measures of the Indian budget.
Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed India's national budget on February 28, 2015. The budget will be made effective from April 01, the first day of Indian fiscal year.
In the budget, the Indian finance minister proposed to raise tax-free ceiling for individual taxpayers to Rs 2,50,000 from Rs 2,00,000.
Currently it is Tk 2,20,000 in Bangladesh.
In India, there is a type of tax, known as education cess, that is used to improve the quality of secondary and higher secondary education.
Highest rate of individual and corporate tax is 30 per cent in India. For foreign companies, the corporate tax rate is 40 per cent.
On customs-related proposals, the NBR preferred trade liberalisation, simplification and promotion of investment policy of India.
In the budget, India has cut import duty of some 22 products that are basic raw materials, intermediate goods and industrial products.
India has increased duty on mobile sets (with CENVAT credit), commercial vehicles, iron and steel articles and metallurgical coke.
It has cut duty on LED TV panels, electrical metal parts, components of refrigerator compressors, optical fibre, chemicals for plastic, artificial rubber etc.
The neighbouring country has increased excise duty on cigarettes, condensed milk, polymer bags, theme parks while cut taxes on industrial water purifiers.
In the report, the revenue board chief preferred curtailing the wide-range of exemption of VAT after thorough scrutiny of 'exemption schedule'.
He also proposed necessary amendments in the VAT law for next fiscal year's budget for smooth implementation the new 'VAT and Supplementary Act-2012' from July 1, 2016.
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