Business leaders have demanded a business-friendly budget considering the enormity of the second wave of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
They made the demand at a virtual meeting of the 41st Budget Advisory Committee organized by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal joined the meeting as the chief guest while Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem was in the chair.
FBCCI President Sheikh Fazle Fahim moderated the meeting.
AHM Mustafa Kamal underscoring the importance of the business and industrial sector stated, “The recommendations and issues brought forward by the business leaders and the associations will be taken into due consideration to be discussed with relevant bodies.”
At the meeting, FBCCI president put forward several proposals in the interest of business community on income tax, VAT (value added tax) and duties.
In the proposal, he proposed to withdraw all types of advance tax, including advance income tax (AIT), advance tax (AT).
To bring transparency in business transactions, he proposed to introduce invoice-based transaction process in each case.
He said if implemented, it would increase government revenue and help increase the contribution of taxes to GDP.
Fazle Fahim said, “We hope that the revenue and business-friendly budget will be formulated as per the reality of the second wave of the current Covid-19 and in the continuation of the last budget.”
He suggested taking effective action against those who make false declarations even after giving traders up to three times in self-declaration.
The initiative will increase the tax coverage at the grassroots level, he added.
At the time, Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem said that document verification has been initiated with ICAB to bring transparency.
Accurate calculation will increase revenue collection, which will make it possible to reduce corporate tax rates in the future, he added.
He also said that the NBR is speeding up the automation process for the sake of transparency.