Planning a feast? Pay city corp taxes first, Chittagonians!

Residents of Chattogram city will have to pay tax to arrange ceremonies on the occasion of birth, marriage or death from now on, which has met with widespread criticism of the locals.

In its 18th general meeting held recently, the Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) has decided to impose tax on 26 things along with the programmes on occasion of births and deaths, Mohammad Ismail, chairman of the CCC's standing committee on finance, told The Business Standard.

Earlier, the organisation used to collect taxes in 10 sectors including property tax.

Mohammad Ismail said, "Officials are currently working to determine the tax rates in those sectors. The tax rate will be fixed in the next meeting."

According to the CCC's decision, the 26 sectors on which tax will be levied include feasts on occasion of birth, marriage, child adoption and death, applications for construction and reconstruction of buildings, importing goods for consumption, use or sale in the city, exporting goods from the city, toll on vehicles plying in the city, animals, performing charities, water taps and water supply systems, school fees, markets, fees on licenses, application for approvals and permits for different things, and for any special works in the city corporation.

A proposal has been sent to the CCC's Standing Committee on Finance to determine the rate of tax on mejban (traditional feasts) on occasion of birth, marriage, and adoption of babies.

Khorshed Alam Sujan, former administrator of CCC, told TBS, "People of Chattogram love to eat and to feed others, so they organise a feast on occasion of birth of a child or the death of a relative or a marriage. Mejban is a tradition of Chattogram. The decision to impose tax on such a social event is not logical at all."

"If the city corporation has to increase its income, they can ask for a service charge for the removal of garbage from the community centres. The CCC can become self-sustaining by collecting money from other sectors without burdening general people with taxes," said Khorshed Alam Sujan, who is also an adviser to Nagorik Uddyog, a human rights organisation.

Currently, the CCC collects taxes as per City Corporation Ideal Tax Schedule 2016. As per the rule, the city corporation collects 14-17% holding tax based on the rent of a building. It also collects tax on trade licence fee, land transfer fee, advertisement, shop sign, film and entertainment, motor vehicle, non-motorised vehicle, rickshaw license fee, and estates.

Construction and reconstruction of buildings will also be brought under the tax net. The law department of the city corporation is currently scrutinising a system of the tax collection on the application for this purpose.

Apart from this, a letter has been given seeking permission from the Local Government Division to collect tax on markets, import of goods for consumption, use or sale in the city and on export of goods from the city.

Hasan Maruf Rumi, spokesperson of Chattogram Kordata Surokkha Parishad, told TBS, "The people of the city are already helpless due to the increase in the price of essentials. They have become more helpless due to hikes in the prices of electricity, gas, water and the house rent. The CCC has started collecting a several times increased holding tax in the current fiscal year. In this situation, tax collection in new sectors will increase people's misery."

Asked about the matter, CCC Secretary Khaled Mahmud told TBS, "The sectors from which the city corporation collects taxes are very limited. This creates problems in providing the salaries and allowances of the officials. In this situation, it has been decided to collect tax from 26 sectors as per our revenue laws.

"Many are criticising various aspects of the taxes. We are also scrutinising these issues. Whatever is done, the tax will be fixed in coordination with the two city corporations of Dhaka. We are trying to keep the new taxes at a bearable level."