The country's mobile phone operators have urged the government to set a uniform corporate tax rate for the telecom industry in line with other industries, as its absence is 'affecting' their normal growth.
Spokespersons of the mobile phone operators at a press conference in the city Wednesday mentioned that the non-listed telecom operators pay the highest 45 per cent corporate tax, which is 40 per cent for the listed one. But corporate tax for the general non-listed companies is 37.5 per cent and 27.5 per cent for the listed companies.
They claimed that tax rate in the country's telecom industry is the second highest after Turkey.
Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) arranged the press conference on the eve of the national budget for fiscal year 2014-15.
The association placed some demands, including zero tax for each new SIM card, elimination of turnover taxes, amortization of licence fee, and withdrawal of 15 per cent VAT (value added tax) on internet modem and mobile financial services.
Chief operating officer of Robi Mahtab Uddin Ahmed said his company's revenue growth has been affected due to increasing cost of subscriber acquisition.
"The government can impose the highest tax on telecom industry, if it makes super profit, but most of the operators are losing concerns," Mr Mahtab noted.
"The telcos are paying 55 per cent of their total earning to the public exchequer. Only 45 per cent remains for their overall maintenance," he added.
AMTOB secretary general TIM Nurul Kabir said the government should reconsider the current tax situation of telecom industry for ensuring people's access to information in rural level.
"The sector is beset with multiple taxes," he opined.
Chief financial officer (CFO) of Banglalink Ahmad Haleem, acting CFO of Grameenphone Mainur Rahman Bhuiyan, chief corporate affairs officer of Airtel Ashraf H Chowdhury, and general manger (finance) of Teletalk Faruk Ahmed were present in the press conference.
