CHITTAGONG, May 3: Businesses in Chittagong are in favour of industry and investment-friendly budget in the upcoming fiscal year.
They said that the national budget for a year reflects the country's economic plan to take the nation onwards to development. So the national budget should be friendly to the growth of national industry and local and non-local investments in different sectors.
Leaders of Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry said they would favour a policy that would protect the local industries first and also discourage free flow of imported goods.
The CMCCI would submit its proposals to the chairman and members of the national board of revenue (NBR) at its meeting with the revenue board on Sunday. The NBR boss is scheduled to meet the directors of the CMCCI at 12.00 noon and directors of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) at 10.00 am on the day in the respective Chambers.
CMCCI secretary Md Salimullah said the trade body has prepared a list of local heavy, medium and small-scale industries for protective measures as those industries are producing goods to meet the local demand and as such imports of those goods will be reduced greatly and save hard-earned foreign exchange.
Those industries will also create job opportunities for skilled and non-skilled human resources of the country. They will suggest the NBR to discourage import of cold rolled (CR) coil, CI sheet, plain sheet, tug boat, fishing trawler and oil tanker to protect the local shipbuilding industry, metal hook, metal clip etc used in hangers of the readymade garment industry (RMG) and produces of the textile, paper, dairy and poultry industries of the country.
Apart from meeting the local demand and creating employment opportunities, these industries are paying huge amount of revenue to the national exchequer every year. On the other hand, a big chunk of sub-standard and unimportant goods are being imported putting the local small and medium- scale industries into an uneven competition in the market, said AM Mahbub Chowdhury, vice president of the CMCCI.
He told this correspondent that the tax net should incorporate many other tax-payable sectors while the tax rate should be reduced, which will boost up the government revenue sector.
Environment in the tax collection offices should be more free, fair and encouraging so that the small traders and people in general don't feel shy to pay taxes.
"The government has reportedly listed some two million TIN (tax identification number) holders out of a huge population of 160 million people. This is not enough. I think the number of regular tax payers should be around 3.5 million," he said.
He also suggested that the tax limit of the self-motivated tax payers should be Tk 0.3 million (Tk three lakh) annually.
General people are scared of coming to the tax offices to pay their taxes as there is no healthy environment. For example, he said, the sections No 93 and 120 of the Income Tax Ordinance 1984 are harassing and should be re-oriented keeping the audit system in order so that anomalies, if found in one year, should be adjusted in the later year.
"More attention should be given to collection of taxes from the foreigners the number of which are 0.5 to 0.6 million and it will boost up the volume of government revenue," he said and added that the rule of collecting taxes at 20 per cent on income of the foreigners is not being followed up." The unrealised tax can be realised from their local employers, said Mahbub Chowdhury.
He emphasised on strictly following the regulations of the ICC INCOTERM 2010, Bangladesh Bank FER (Foreign Exchange Regulations) Act 1947, Chittagong Port Circular, Customs Act 1969 and the NBR rules regarding import of goods under CFR (cost and freight).
