Progressive tax system must be introduced for industrial development
29 December 2022
THE
country's present tax system is not favourable for industrial
development as it doesn't consider the losses incurred by businesses
during tax calculations. This was observed at the 36th Annual General
Meeting of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) held at its office
in the city's Dilkusha area on Tuesday. BCI leaders at the meeting
discussed the development and promotion of various sectors, including
micro, small, cottage, light engineering, and agro-based industries.
The
businesses emphasised the necessity of a one-stop service for the
industries and break the bottlenecks faced by the entrepreneurs to avail
finance from different sources. The BCI has been promoting new
entrepreneur development in light engineering and agro-based industrial
sectors. Regarding Bangladesh's tax regime, the business leaders said
losses in trade and commerce are not considered during tax fixation,
gross profit is considered sector-wise which is not reasonable. Around
40 per cent of SMEs in the country discontinued operating on the back of
the crisis arising from the pandemic followed by the global economic
instability.
An independent international organisation-Tax Justice
Network - revealed that Bangladesh is losing more than $703.40 million
in taxes per year - third highest revenue loss in South Asia. For the
greater interest of the economy, many sectors have been brought under
tax exemption coupled with tax deduction resulting in losing the
required amount of taxable income. In the budget for FY 2021-22,
reduction of corporate tax, reduction of ransom on VAT dodgers, tax
waivers on condition of establishing hospitals in remote areas have been
introduced.
If tax revenue can be increased in a planned way,
dependency on foreign loans would naturally come down. Meeting the
expenses of mega projects requires a huge volume of foreign loans right
now. A balanced and progressive tax system should be replaced by the old
taxation system for the betterment of the country's economy.
