‘Levy VAT on edible oil only at import stage to keep market stable’ | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
May 31, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2025
‘Levy VAT on edible oil only at import stage to keep market stable’

Bangladesh

Shawkat Ali
06 August, 2020, 11:00 pm
Last modified: 06 August, 2020, 11:26 pm

Related News

  • NBR officers declare chairman persona non grata at headquarters
  • Businesses set for relief as interim govt eyes major tax and fine cuts
  • FY26 budget: Black money whitening in real estate to stay – but with 5x taxes
  • FY26 Budget: Surcharge to be levied on actual tax to promote transparency
  • Ports crippled as NBR officials escalate protests, threaten full trade halt

‘Levy VAT on edible oil only at import stage to keep market stable’

The tariff commission argues that revenue collection will not be affected if the rate of tariff VAT is fixed at Tk16,000 per tonne of edible oil at the import stage exempting it at the other two stages

Shawkat Ali
06 August, 2020, 11:00 pm
Last modified: 06 August, 2020, 11:26 pm
Representational Image. Photo: Collected.
Representational Image. Photo: Collected.

The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission has recommended that the National Board of Revenue (NBR) reforms its three-tier tax structure on edible oil to a single-tier structure to keep the edible oil market stable.

In a letter sent to the NBR the tariff commission has suggested levying value-added tax (VAT) only at the import stage of edible oil exempting it at the other two stages of the supply chain – manufacturing and trading. 

The commission argued that the government's revenue collection will not be affected if the rate of tariff VAT is fixed at Tk16,000 on each metric tonne of edible oil.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Importers and marketing companies of edible oils said they do not have any issues regarding the prevailing three-tier VAT structure. However, dealers and distributors face difficulties in calculating the amount, leading to complexities in realising VAT from them.

To remove this complication, Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association recently put forward a proposal before the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission. In their proposal, the trade body demanded imposing Tk15,000 tax on per metric tonne of edible oil at the import stage instead of collecting it at three different stages. 

However, the tariff commission, after analysing the proposal, found that the revenue collection will not be affected if the tax rate is fixed at Tk16,000.

When asked about this, Biswajit Saha, director of City Group, told The Business Standard that the imposition of Tk16,000 VAT on each metric tonne of edible oil at the import stage only will not create any difficulty.

Instead, this will remove the prevailing complications regarding VAT collection on edible oil, he added. 

It has been learnt that prices of unrefined soybean oil and palm oil in the international market have been on the rise from the latter part of the last year, which has led to a Tk8 hike on the price of per litre of soybean oil in the local market. The manufacturing companies have raised the price of palm oil as well.
Prices of edible oils in the global market are still high.

The tariff commission in its letter mentioned Bangladesh usually imports around 8 lakh tonnes of unrefined soybean oil every year, while the import of unrefined and refined palm oil is around 12 lakh tonnes.   

Around 30 percent of the imported unrefined soybean oil is marketed in packaged form while the remaining 70 percent is marketed in loose form. Meanwhile, 10 percent of the imported palm oil is packaged before marketing, while the remaining 90 percent is marketed in loose form. 

The country has an annual demand for around 20 lakh tonnes of cooking oil.

The tariff commission analysed the amount of revenue in accordance with the recommendations of traders and that in the existing VAT structure based on the highest and lowest price rates of edible oils in the international market during the last several years.

The commission found that the revenue collection will not decrease even if the highest price of unrefined soybean oil is calculated at $850 and that of unrefined palm oil at $800.

Therefore, the tariff VAT rate might be fixed at Tk16,000 per tonne at the import stage only to bring stability to the market price and supply chain of edible oil in the local market, the commission proposed.  

Sources at the NBR said the revenue board is working on the proposal of the tariff commission.

Mentionable, Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association in its application informed the commission that it is difficult to keep the price of this essential cooking ingredient stable in the existing VAT structure.

Mentioning that prices of cooking oils often fluctuate in the global market, the association said this rise and fall in oil prices causes divergence in the amount of VAT being paid to the government. 

It is extremely difficult to adjust VAT at the distribution and trading stages, it added.

The NBR has levied 15 percent VAT on all three stages -- import, production and distribution -- of soybean and palm oil. The importers also have to pay 5 percent advance tax on imports. In addition, traders have to pay 5 percent VAT at both trading and distribution stages.

Top News

Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission / National Board of Revenue (NBR)

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • TBS Sketches
    Inflation, investor doubts and uncertainty: Can the FY26 budget steady the ship?
  •  CA Yunus invites BNP again for talks at Jamuna on 2 June: Salahuddin Ahmed
    CA Yunus invites BNP again for talks at Jamuna on 2 June: Salahuddin Ahmed
  • BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury spoke at a roundtable on "Bangladesh's Geopolitical Security: Perspectives on the Humanitarian Corridor" organised by the Center for Governance and Security Analysis in the capital today (31 May). Photo: TBS
    Corridor discussions still ongoing despite govt denials: Khasru

MOST VIEWED

  • BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
    BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
  • Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks to Nikkei Asia in Tokyo on 29 May. Photo: Nikkei Asia
    Bangladesh ready to buy more US cotton, oil to reduce trade gap: Yunus
  • UCB approves 2024 financials, allocates entire profit to NPL provisions
    UCB approves 2024 financials, allocates entire profit to NPL provisions
  • Tax exemptions for key industries to go, sweeping tax hikes planned
    Tax exemptions for key industries to go, sweeping tax hikes planned
  • Matarbari 1,200MW coal-fired plant in Moheshkhali, Cox's Bazar. File Photo: Nupa Alam/TBS
    Supplier slapped with 5 conditions to unload rejected Matarbari coal shipment
  • US Embassy Dhaka. Picture: Courtesy
    Birth tourism not permitted on US visitor visa: US Embassy Dhaka

Related News

  • NBR officers declare chairman persona non grata at headquarters
  • Businesses set for relief as interim govt eyes major tax and fine cuts
  • FY26 budget: Black money whitening in real estate to stay – but with 5x taxes
  • FY26 Budget: Surcharge to be levied on actual tax to promote transparency
  • Ports crippled as NBR officials escalate protests, threaten full trade halt

Features

Babar Ali, Ikramul Hasan Shakil, and Wasfia Nazreen are leading a bold resurgence in Bangladeshi mountaineering, scaling eight-thousanders like Everest, Annapurna I, and K2. Photos: Collected

Back to 8000 metres: How Bangladesh’s mountaineers emerged from a decade-long pause

1d | Panorama
Photos: Courtesy

Behind the looks: Bangladeshi designers shaping celebrity fashion

1d | Mode
Photo collage of the sailors and their catch. Photos: Shahid Sarkar

Between sky and sea: The thrilling life afloat on a fishing ship

1d | Features
For hundreds of small fishermen living near this delicate area, sustainable fishing is a necessity for their survival. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

World Ocean Day: Bangladesh’s ‘Silent Island’ provides a fisheries model for the future

2d | The Big Picture

More Videos from TBS

Which way will the job crisis take the Chinese young generation?

Which way will the job crisis take the Chinese young generation?

31m | Others
What did Hasnat say about the NCP's seat sharing in the elections?

What did Hasnat say about the NCP's seat sharing in the elections?

1h | TBS Today
Dr. Yunus invited BNP for discussions on June 2: Salahuddin

Dr. Yunus invited BNP for discussions on June 2: Salahuddin

1h | TBS Today
What did Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya say about the budget for the fiscal year 2025-26?

What did Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya say about the budget for the fiscal year 2025-26?

1h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net