Bangladesh Jewellers Samity (BAJUS) on Tuesday proposed cuts in value-added tax (VAT) on gold, silver and diamond ornaments from the existing 5.0 per cent to 3.0 per cent.
Seeking Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's intervention in the development of the jewellery industry, BAJUS also demanded that the import duty on unrefined gold ore should be reduced to 1.0 per cent from 5.0 per cent to prevent gold smuggling and save foreign exchange reserves.
The proposals were placed at a
pre-budget press conference at Bashundhara City Shopping Complex auditorium in the capital.
BAJUS President Sayem Sobhan Anvir and its Vice-President Md Reponul Hasan, among others, were present at the event while BAJUS Vice President Anwar Hossain presented a written statement.
Terming the jewellery sector as one of the age-old industries of the country, Anwar said the industry is now in dire straits.
Seeking the government's policy support, he said despite the immense potential, the industry is now under threat due to a lack of sound revenue management and policy support.
Taking those issues into consideration, BAJUS presented 12 proposals for inclusion in the national budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2023-24.
It urged the government to distribute Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFD) in every registered jewellery institution to increase revenue income.
EFD machine is a user-friendly business device designed for issuing receipts/ invoices for the sale of goods or services.
Without ensuring setting up the EFD machine in every jewellery shop, one should not be harassed, the samity said.
Regarding partial gold ore, it called for reducing custom duty (CD) to 5.0 per cent from 10 per cent for import Registration Certificate (IRC) holders and VAT-compliant industries.
BAJUS also gave another proposal to fix the proposed duty rates of CD at 10 per cent and supplementary duty (SD) at 10 per cent on imported rough diamonds for diamond cutting and processing purposes.
It also called upon the government to provide a tax holiday for 10 years to the gold refinery or gold refining industry under section 46-(bb) (2) of the Income Tax Act.
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