Tax-free income ceiling unchanged at Tk 250,000
FE Report | Friday, 8 June 2018
The tax-free ceiling for individual taxpayers remained unchanged at Tk 250,000 in the proposed budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2018-19.
However, the tax-free threshold for individual taxpayers having physically challenged children would be Tk 300,000 from the existing Tk 275,000.
Such parents will get Tk 50,000 exemption of tax for each of their physically challenged children for carrying out expenditures, according to the budget.
In the budget for FY 2015-16, the tax-free ceiling for individual taxpayers increased by Tk 30,000 from Tk 220,000.
With the proposed measure, the government has kept the threshold unchanged during the last three years.
This comes despite the increase in cost of living.
The rate of inflation in FY 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 (until February) averaged 5.6 per cent.
A cross section of people including think-tanks and the apex trade body proposed the government to increase the tax-free ceiling to Tk 300,000 and above.
The tax-exemption limit for women and people older than 65 remained unchanged to Tk 300,000.
For the physically challenged individual taxpayers, it remained Tk 400,000.
The tax-free threshold also remained unchanged at Tk 425,000 for gazetted injured freedom fighters.