Proposed tax hike on MFS counterproductive: BASIS

The proposed tax hike on mobile financial services (MFS) is a counterproductive decision, because it comes at a time when this sector is trying to promote digital transactions, said Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) President Syed Almas Kabir.

He made the comment while giving his reaction to the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2021-22, adding, "In our proposal, we had urged the government to withdraw VAT from any digital transaction.

"But the government did not do that, instead it seeks to increase the corporate tax, which would be counterproductive. The people will have to bear the cost if the tax increases further. I am urging the government to reconsider this move."

Apart from this, the BASIS president also demanded an extension of the tax holiday till 2030 for promoting foreign investment in this sector.

Syed Almas Kabir thanked the government for planning to extend the tax exemption facility until 2024 for providers of cloud service, system integration, e-learning platform, e-book publications, mobile application development services and IT freelancing.