Reduce duty on 28 types of daily goods to give consumers relief: CPD

The Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has proposed a reduction of duty on the import of 28 daily essentials to give some relief to people by reining in rising commodity prices.

During a pre-budget discussion organised by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) at its office in the capital on Wednesday, the CPD said the measure would help dampen the price of essentials.

Speaking at the event, Muntaseer Kamal, research fellow of the CPD, also asked to abolish the opportunity to whiten black money with the offshore tax amnesty and make a time-bound plan to phase out tax exemptions.

Besides, the research institute also proposed increasing the tax-free income limit of individual taxpayers from Tk3 lakh to Tk3.50 lakh.

Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, the NBR chairman, presided over the meeting where other economic think tanks also presented their budget proposals.

Speaking to The Business Standard after the meeting, Muntaseer Kamal said currently the income tax, customs duty and value added tax (VAT) were applicable on 28 types of essential imports. The taxes ranged from 3% to 90%.

"If this rate is brought down a little and if the market is strictly monitored, consumers would be benefitted," he said.

The tax-free income limit for individual taxpayers was last increased to Tk3 lakh in the financial year 2020-21.

Muntaseer Kamal said even if only inflation is accounted for, the tax-free income limit has to be increased by Tk50,000.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently given time-bound conditions and plans to the government to reduce the government's tax expenditure.

During the discussion, the NBR chairman stressed the need for a plan in this regard.

He said people were not willing to pay taxes, but work was being done to prepare a list of those under the tax net, including home owners.

The NBR chairman also said the tax to GDP should be increased at a faster pace than the prevailing one to meet the challenge of LDC graduation.

At the event, the Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) also highlighted its position against exiting a protectionist policy.

Hinting at the International Monetary Fund and other development stakeholders of Bangladesh, the organisation said, "Those who are making these proposals from rich countries have become rich by adopting all kinds of protectionist policies."

But after getting rich, they were now promoting free market systems, it added.

Representatives of some other organisations, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Snehasish Mahmud and Company, SME Foundation and the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) also presented their proposals.