Rationalisation of Minimum Import Price, Regulatory Duty and Supplementary Duty
Madam Speaker
335. It has been proposed to withdraw and rationalize the existing minimum value of certain products for the purpose of trade facilitation and revenue collection through proper valuation of imported goods.
336. I am proposing to impose and reduce regulatory duties and supplementary duties on certain products.
Madam Speaker
337. Implementation of the proposed proposals is expected to help rebuild the damaged economy, accelerate economic activity, develop heavy industry, create entrepreneurship and create employment opportunities and ensure an investment and business-friendly environment. In order to modernize Bangladesh Customs, the National Board of Revenue has already started activities including upgrading of ASYCUDA World software, National Single Window project, Automated Customs Risk Management, Bond Management, Authorized Economic Operator etc. Successful implementation of these initiatives will make our graduation journey smoother and doing business easy, attract more investment from domestic and international sources and accelerate the pace of our growth and development. As a result, it will be easier to meet the targets of 2030 and 2041 set by Hon’ble Prime Minister.
Stamp Act
Madam Speaker
338. Internal resources are the major sources of revenue for Bangladesh Government. Non-NBR revenue can be a potential source for increasing revenue collection. Considering its importance, the Government is thinking of increasing revenue collection from non-NBR sources. Stamp duty can be a potent source of revenue collection. In order to increase revenue collection from this non-NBR revenue source, the stamp duty rate, as prescribed in The Stamp Act, 1899, has been revised several times during 1973 to 2012.
Madam Speaker
339. Under the skillful and judicious leadership of our Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh has become a role-model of development in the world. To support our development and growth several mega projects are undertaken in the power, energy and other sectors. The amount of stamp duty, as per the provisions of the Stamp Act, 1899 (Act-II of 1899), payable on the financial documents of such projects, however, becomes such a large sum that these are never paid. On the contrary, to ensure smooth operation of the projects, the stamp duty is waived in most cases following relevant provisions of the Act. Hence, revenue earned from this source is reduced. In order to support our development goals, without hurting the revenue potential of this source, the stamp duty rate needs to be readjusted for these mega projects.
340. Since 2012 the stamp duty rate has not been changed. Considering our current state of development, increased per capita income, inflation over the years and other economic realities, the stamp duty rate charged is quite low. Hence, I propose in this august House to make necessary changes in section 30 and Schedule 1 of the Stamp Act, 1899 to increase the stamp duty rate. This will facilitate earning more revenue from this source and also make the stamp duty rate practical and realistic.
Chapter Eleven
Commitments Made in the Budget for FY2021-22 and Their Implementation Progress
Madam Speaker
341. I am now focusing on the implementation status of some of the key commitments we made to the nation in the current budget:
- The implementation progress of the stimulus packages declared by the Hon’ble Prime Minister aimed at addressing the COVID-19 impacts is 71.55 percent till April 2022.
- In addition to 112 most poverty stricken Upazilas under the coverage of hundred percent ‘Old Age Allowance’ and‘Allowance for the Widow, Deserted, and Destitute Women’, the programme has been expanded to another 150 Upazilas from FY2021-22. In aggregate, 262 Upazilas of the country have come under the full coverage of the programmes.
- As per the latest disability identification survey, the number of beneficiaries under the category of Insolvent Disabled Persons has increased by 2 lakh 8 thousand. An allocation of Tk. 1820 crore has been made for the beneficiaries including additional Tk. 200 crore needed for the increased number of 20 lakh 8 thousand.
- Overall implementation progress of the mega projects until March 2022 stands at 68.60 percent. The Padma bridge project is almost at the stage of completion. Hon’ble Prime Minister will inaugurate the bridge for vehicular movement on 25th June.
- During the critical period of the Corona pandemic, in tandem with different cautionary measures for saving lives, we introduced online classes and held examinations online to keep the students engaged in academic activities. Now academic activities have started in full swing.
- Apart from various initiatives to improve the quality of primary education, ‘School Feeding Program’, ‘Basic Literacy Project in 64 Districts’, ‘Support to Quality Enhancement in Primary Education Project’, ‘COVID-19 School Sector Response Project’ are being implemented, and installation of 509 ICT Lab in primary schools is underway.
- In the rural sector, construction of 3,140 km new road including expansion of core road network and construction/expansion of 18,500-meter bridge/culvert on these roads are in progress. To make the built rural road infrastructure durable, maintenance works are being done on 8,500 km pucca road and 3,800-meter bridge/culvert.
- The reinstitution and re-routing and expansion of international routes of Bangladesh Biman is underway. From January 2022, flight operation in Dhaka-Sharjah route has been initiated. Flight operations decisions in Dhaka-Toronto and Dhaka-Narita routes have been taken.
- Through the integrated improvement in electricity generation, transmission and distribution, the programmes taken up following the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s commitment of “Reaching Electricity to Every Home” has been successful. By 21st March of the current fiscal year hundred percent electrification programme in all the Upazilas of the country has been executed.
- In order to implement the Fourth Industrial revolution effectively, steps have been taken to launch 5G network in the country. Establishment of 39 Hi-Tech park/ICT/IT Incubation Centres is in progress.
- The 26th Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) was held month-long during January 2022 at the Bangabandhu Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre which was newly built with a huge space in Purbachal New Town area.
- The government has been providing export incentives to 43 goods and services to boost their export competitiveness. Export incentive of additional 1 percent along with various existing incentives in the readymade garments sector continues. This has resulted in the desired level of increased export.
- Cash incentive on remittances sent through official channels has been effectively increased from 2 percent to 2.5 percent.
- Together with 1578 EFD/SDC machines installed between March 2021 and March 2022, so far, these machines have been installed in 4,578 business points. This has facilitated VAT office in getting transaction information instantly. The EFD/SDCs will be set up gradually in all the registered businesses across the country.
- To ensure protection of the domestic agricultural produce, certified customs rate and tax on the assessable prices have been rationalised for the imports of carrot, turnip, green chili, tomato, capsicum and oranges. Necessary steps have also been taken to provide protection to the salt farmers.
- Existing facilities for the sustainable development and growth of fisheries, dairy and poultry sectors have been expanded. Customs duty has been increased and minimum assessable prices for customs duty has been defined on the imports of processed meat to extend protection to the local meat processing industry and domestic livestock farmers.
- Duty-free import facility has been provided to the import of raw materials needed for the production of Corona virus testing kits, special types of masks and hand sanitizer, mask and PPEs. Besides, duty-free facility has been provided anew to the import of necessary raw materials for manufacturing RT-PCR kit used for the testing of coronavirus.
- Existing tax holiday has been extended to the imports of required raw materials used for the production of medical kits to strengthen health sector and protect pharmaceutical industry.
- Duty-free facility has been offered to the import of Implantable Occluder used for the treatment of children who are born with cardiac defects.
- To protect small and medium enterprises, customs duty on the import of some of the finished products which are produced by the local SMEs has been increased. Tax exemptions have been provided to the import of some materials used in the manufacturing of industrial goods for the protection of SMEs.
- To protect the textile industry, Photosensitive Rotary Screen, Temperature Sensor and Loaded PCB Board have been included in the list of tax exemptions. To diversify exports, tax exemption facility has been extended to the import of raw ingredients used in the footwear industry for the growth of that sector.
- Existing tax exemption facility has been extended to the manufacturing firms of domestic LP gas cylinder. Tax exemption facility and customs rate have been decreased on the import of raw materials used for the manufacturing industries of fire-resistant door, cable and internet cable.
- To protect the domestic industries producing refrigerator and air conditioner compressor, washing machines, and television, existing exemption facility has been expanded to the import of raw materials used in these sectors.
- Existing customs rate has been cut down and made consistent with the import of accessories in order to develop LED lights manufacturing/assembling industry.
- Reduction of existing customs rate has been proposed on the import of three required raw materials for the growth of domestic gypsum board and particle board manufacturing industry that replaces import.
- Tax exemption facilities have been provided to the imports of raw materials of ICT and related accessories of computer to render protection to the domestic computer/laptop and ICT products manufacturing firms. As a vital element of ICT sector, to lift up cellular phones manufacturing and expansion of assembly industry, existing exemptions facility on the import of raw materials have been made more investment-friendly and rationalised. And customs duty has been increased on imports of feature phones to protect the domestic manufacturers.
- To discourage the use of accident-prone vehicles like Nosimon and Leguna and incentivise the use of microbus as an alternative mode of mass transport, a cut of customs duty on the import of microbus has been proposed. To encourage the use of environment-friendly hybrid cars, customs structure on imports of such vehicles has been realigned.
- Tax rate of the private universities, medical colleges and engineering colleges has been fixed at 15 percent.
- Tax ceiling on income for third gender people has been increased from Tk. 3 lakh to 3 lakh 50 thousand.
- If any tax paying employer entity employs 10 percent or more than 100 of its working staff from third gender, provisions have been made as such that it will be exempted from income tax.
- The provision of levying surcharge on wealth has been annulled in case of no income.
- Minimum surcharge on wealth has been repealed.
- Apart from the existing 22 sectors in digital transformation, new sectors including cloud service, system integration, e-learning platform, e-book publications, mobile application development service and IT freelancing have been declared tax free.
- Tax Incentives on ‘Made in Bangladesh’ Branding;
- In order to advance Bangladesh in Mega industry, a 20-year tax holiday has been declared for the automobile (three and four-wheeler) manufacturing firms whose investment amount is at least Tk. 100 crore.
- A 10-year tax holiday has been provided to the home and kitchen appliances manufacturing industries.
- A 10-year tax break has been provided to the entrepreneurs/startups engaged in fruits processing, vegetable processing, dairy and dairy products, baby food products and agricultural equipment manufacturing.
- All kinds of products made by light engineering industry which will solely be used in mills and factories have been given a 10-year tax exemption benefit.
- Incentives for National Skill Development and Employment
- To create skilled manpower compatible with industrialisation, training institutions which provide professional training in various technical subjects/trades have been given tax exemption for a period of 10 years.
- To make quality health services low cost for every citizen of Bangladesh, the income of a general hospital with minimum 250-bed capacity or a specialised hospital with the minimum capacity of 200 beds has been made tax free for ten years provided that it is established outside Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Chattogram districts.
- Annual turnover of up to Tk. 70 lakh of any business firm in the SME sector owned by a female entrepreneur has been made tax-free.
- To ensure micro credit available, the income of microcredit organisations which are registered with Micro Credit Regulatory Authority in addition to NGO Affairs Bureau has been made tax free.
- To introduce Sukuk bond and create demand for mobilising long-term capital, tax applicable on the transfer of property to Trust or SPV and retransfer of property to the original entity from SPV has been exempted.
Conclusion
Madam Speaker
342. I am now almost at the end of my budget presentation.
Madam Speaker
343. You are well aware that Bangladesh has changed a lot over the last five decades. The only thing that hasn’t changed is the everlasting ideals of the Father of The Nation and his robust presence in all the spheres. Following his footsteps, the Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is spearheading all the incomplete tasks of the Father of the Nation one after another with the support of the people beside her. Under her bold leadership, the country has already graduated from a least developed country to a developing country. Certainly, we shall be able to transform Bangladesh into a hunger and poverty-free society by achieving SDG in 2030, a higher-middle income country by 2031, a knowledge-based, happy and prosperous developed country by 2041 and a secured delta by 2100. Thus we shall touch the fringe of golden Bangla that was ingrained in the heart and soul of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Insha Allah.
“SalamunAllalMursalinwaalHamdulillahiRabbilA’lamin”.
Madam Speaker, Thank you very very much.
Joy Bangla
Joy Bangabandhu
Long Live Bangladesh
