Plastic makers seek reduced import tax on raw materials

FE Report
Plastic makers have proposed that the government cut back duty on raw materials in the next budget, which can enable them to offer cheaper products to domestic consumers.
The demand is one of the proposals the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) has made to the government.
The association has also proposed waiver of import duty on capital machinery and continuation of tax holiday facility for the next 10 years.
The association has sent the proposals to the ministries, departments, chambers and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for including those into the upcoming budget, said an association official Wares Sardar.
The demands include reduction of import duty on thermo plastic moulding compound from 5.0 to 2.0 per cent, on melamine decalcomania transfer paper from 10 and 5.0 per cent to zero per cent. Reduction of such duty on urea moulding compound is from 25 to 10 per cent.
One of the proposals include reduction of tax at source on export income to 0.30 per cent from existing 0.60 per cent and also reduction of corporate tax in the budget for fiscal year 2015-16.
The association requested the authorities for increasing export duty on products imported mainly from China and India. The country can meet its own demand, it said.
Shopping bags, butcher bags, PVC pipe, polyethylene-sheets, ball- pens, tooth-brush, toys, hanger, hand- gloves, artificial flowers, table-covers, computer accessories; wastebaskets and wall-clocks are among the major plastic products Bangladesh exports.
The key export destinations of plastic makers include Poland, China, India, Belgium, France, Germany, Canada, Spain, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Currently, around 5,000 plastic goods manufacturing companies are operating in the country.
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