NBR hints at reducing advance income tax for newspaper industry 

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan has indicated a possible reduction in advance income tax (AIT) on imported newsprint for the newspaper industry in the upcoming budget for 2025-26 fiscal year. 

"We will consider the issue of advance income tax reduction," he said during a pre-budget discussion with the Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (Noab) at the NBR headquarters in capital's Agargaon today (23 February).

Currently, the AIT on newspaper imports is 5%.

The NBR chairman also assured Noab that newsprint imports would be assessed based on their actual value at customs, not arbitrary recorded values.

"Unless we have concrete proof of misdeclaration, assessments should not be made arbitrarily," he added.

At the discussion, Noab leaders urged the government to reduce customs duty, value-added tax (VAT), and corporate tax for the newspaper industry, citing financial losses.

However, the NBR chairman opined that corporate tax and VAT rates should be uniform across all industries.

Noab President AK Azad highlighted the high tax burden on newspapers, stating, "The cumulative effect of 5% customs duty, 15% VAT, and 5% AIT results in approximately a 30% tax burden on newsprint imports."

He specifically requested the customs duty to be reduced, and the VAT to be lowered to 5%. 

Azad also mentioned the past exemption of customs duty during a caretaker government, contrasting it with later expectations of favourable media coverage from subsequent political regimes.

Matiur Rahman, editor of Prothom Alo, highlighted the industry's financial struggles.

"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," he said.

The Financial Express editor Shamsul Huq Zahid also spoke at the discussion among others.