Metropolitan Chamber demands supportive taxation
Increasing cost minimum tax requirement is holding back businesses from reaching their full potentials, said Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI).
Leaders of the oldest business chamber of the country also believe that the corporate tax rate is still high in Bangladesh and could be lowered gradually in coming years.
MCCI opinion comes at its first Quarterly Luncheon Meeting of 2020 at its Gulshan office on Thursday. Senior Secretary of Internal Resources Division (IRD) and Chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR) Abu Hena Md. Rahmatul Muneem attended the event as the Chief Guest.
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MCCI President Nihad Kabir also mentioned that the arbitrary disallowance of expenses by the NBR while assessing taxes could be reassessed so that differences in actions taken for the same expense items across different entities were minimized.
Finally, she stated that the government should allow incentives for those industries which might be able to fill up the vacuum created in foreign markets with their products owing to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
NBR chairman said that despite the prevailing challenges, he was trying to create a tax-friendly environment. He also believed that tax rates could be lowered, but before that, the tax net would have to be increased so that there was no risk of revenue shortfall.
To do that, there was a need to have a research department, and his team was working hard to come up with a solution to that.
Other topics that came up during the discussions include the changing of the VAT law post-implementation and its subsequent challenges, the need to identify tax evaders, the need to have tax incentives for organizations which employ disabled people, the refund process of the extra tax that has been paid, and many more.
