Plea for withdrawal of re-imposed VAT

A delegation of Bangladesh Indenting Agents' Association (BIAA) led by its president M S Siddiqui met  Finance Minister AMA Muhith, MP, recently at his ERD division office in Sher-E Bangla Nagar in the city.

 BIAA president briefed the activities and role of Member-Firms of BIAA in the economic development of the country.

Mr. Siddiqui said that the indentors render service to their foreign principals and earn commission in foreign currency against the service they provide. They repatriate their earnings through "Proceeds Realisation Certificate (PRC)".

He said considering the contribution of indentors in foreign exchange earnings 15 per cent VAT on indenting commission was withdrawn in the financial year 2014-2015. As a result the indentors were highly encouraged to repatriate commission and the volume of repatriation increased tremendously.

"But unfortunately VAT on repatriated indenting commission has been re-imposed in the current financial year 2015-2016 which may cause negative impact in repatriation of foreign currency. The BIAA president, therefore, requested the Minister for withdrawal of re-imposed VAT on repatriated indenting commission in foreign currency," according to a statement.

The Finance Minister gave a patient hearing and assured the delegation that the indenting sector deserve due consideration and necessary steps will be taken to resolve the problem.