BTTC urges NBR to cut import duties on dates before Ramadan

The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) has recommended that the revenue authorities reduce import duties and taxes on dates to ensure a sufficient supply ahead of the upcoming fasting month of Ramadan.
In a recent letter to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), it suggested extending the exemption until March 31, 2025.
It suggested bringing down the customs duty to 15 per cent from existing 25 per cent and Advance Income Tax (AIT) to 3.0 per cent from 10 per cent.
In the budget for FY 2024-25, the government has imposed 25 per cent customs duty, 15 per cent value-added tax (VAT), 10 per cent AIT, 3.0 per cent regulatory duty (RD) and 5.0 per cent AT on all types of dates import, making a total tax incidence of 63.60 per cent.
The BTTC argued that the higher AIT and AT on import of such goods are not reasonable.
It said the financial involvement of traders concerned is increasing due to imposing the AIT and AT. On the other hand, prices of dates are increasing abnormally. So, the duties and taxes should be reduced where possible.
In February last, the NBR had reduced the taxes on date imports from 25 per cent to 15 per cent and the exemption was valid until March 30, 2024.
The BTTC put forward the request based on a decision made at its recent meeting.
It also recommended easing some other conditions in the ports to facilitate importing such items.
The annual demand for date in Bangladesh is around 0.11 million tonnes. Around 50,000-60,000 tonnes of dates are required only for the holy month.
In recent years, the import of dates has decreased. Generally, traders import dates from KSA, UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan.

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