Govt may reduce newsprint import duty
Noting that the move may help the industry, a senior NBR official told The Business Standard that the proposal to reduce the duty is being actively considered ahead of the national budget.
The government is considering reducing the import duty on newsprint from 5% to 3%, aiming to ease the tax burden on the country's struggling newspaper industry, according to officials from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
Noting that the move may help the industry, a senior NBR official told The Business Standard that the proposal to reduce the duty is being actively considered ahead of the national budget.
However, despite the NBR chairman's earlier commitment to reducing the advance income tax (AIT), the rate is unlikely to be changed.
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As it stands, the newspaper industry faces an overall tax burden of about 30%, including 5% customs duty, 15% value-added tax (VAT), and 5% AIT, according to the Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB).
During a pre-budget meeting in February with NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan and senior officials, NOAB President AK Azad urged the government to reduce both the import duty and AIT for the sector.
NOAB leaders also called for reductions in VAT and corporate tax, citing ongoing financial losses across the industry.
At the meeting, the NBR chairman assured that imported newsprint would be assessed based on actual market value at customs, rather than declared value, unless there was concrete evidence of misdeclaration.
Matiur Rahman, editor of The Daily Prothom Alo, during the meeting highlighted the industry's prolonged financial distress. He said, "For the past 16 years, this industry has received no benefits from the government. Before attending this discussion, we assumed we wouldn't get anything, but we participated nonetheless."
