The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) made on Tuesday a set of proposals, including stopping the sources of black money, raising the existing ceiling on wealth tax and the tax-free threshold for individual taxpayers in the upcoming financial year (FY) 2015-2016.
The chamber body at the same time demanded at least 50 per cent waiver on port charges, demurrage and penalties for the businesses bearing extra costs in the face of the political turmoil that severely hampered release of their imported goods on time.
The DCCI also sought 50 per cent VAT waiver for the small and fixed VAT paying businesses to help them recoup the losses they incurred during the three months of political chaos.
The DCCI placed the proposals at a pre-budget meeting with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) with NBR chairman Md. Nojibur Rahman in the chair at its conference room in the afternoon.
Placing the proposals in the areas of income tax, customs duties and value-added tax for consideration of the NBR in the next budget, DCCI president Hossain Khaled called upon the revenue board to take fiscal initiatives to terminate the source of black money generation along with discontinuation of the scope for legalising untaxed money.
"And the chamber is ready to provide all kinds of cooperation to this effect," he said.
He demanded an increase in the tax-free income limit for individual taxpayers to Tk 275,000 from the existing Tk 220,000 taking into account the amplified cost of living and high inflation.
He said the NBR should raise the tax-free threshold for women and senior citizens to Tk 400,000 from the current 275,000 and for people with disability to Tk 400,000 from the current level of Tk 350,000 in the next FY.
He also suggested providing tax cards with some privileges or facilities for taxpayers so that the people feel encouraged to pay taxes.
The DCCI president also sought a raise in the minimum limit of net assets for imposing wealth surcharge to Tk 40 million (400 crore) from the existing Tk 20 million.
"The taxpayers acquired assets after paying income tax. So, imposition of wealth surcharge again is illogical," he said.
According to the Income Tax Ordinance-1984, surcharge or wealth tax is applicable to assets worth above Tk 20 million to Tk 100 million at 10 per cent, 15 per cent surcharge for net assets up to Tk 200 million, 20 per cent for up to Tk 300 million and 25 per cent for above Tk 300 million.
About corporate income tax, the DCCI sought reduction of the rate for listed companies to 25 per cent from 27.5 per cent, for merchant banks to 35 per cent from 37.5 per cent and for brokerage houses to 30 per cent from 35 per cent.
The chamber also suggested increasing the tax net instead of imposing more tax on the existing taxpayers.
"It is very sad and disappointing that only 1.4 million people have taxpayer identification numbers (TIN) in a country of 160 million. So, there is no alternative but expansion of the tax net," Mr Khaled said.
The DCCI also sought special incentive for automobile and automotive industries and withdrawal of VAT on Internet use to encourage its use in the country for building a 'Digital Bangladesh'.
The chamber suggested imposing additional duty and taxes on import of finished goods to protect local businesses producing finished goods here. It also recommended the tax holiday facility for any private software park.
Leaders of the chamber said the money spent under CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) should be free from income tax.
DCCI Senior vice president Humayun Rashid, its directors Abdus Salam and A.K.D Khair Mohammad Khan and senior NBR officials were, among others, present at the pre-budget discussion.
jubairfe1980@gmail.com
