Sohel Parvez

Bangladesh’s trade deficit is projected to be $33 billion in the outgoing fiscal year as export earnings and remittances continue to fall below the overall import cost, said Bangladesh Bank in its monetary policy for the next fiscal year.

Mango exports from Bangladesh touched a new high in the outgoing fiscal year thanks to increasing interest among growers and exporters to ship the juicy fruits abroad, official figures showed. 

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) reached 76 per cent of its Tk 330,00 crore revenue generation target in the 11 months of 2021-22, meaning it is going to miss the full fiscal-year collection goal once again.

There has been growing interest among farmers in Bangladesh at rearing and fattening bulls, encouraged by high domestic prices which enable making a profit alongside an Indian clampdown on illegal inflows of cattle.

The government guarantee given to state enterprises against their loans edged up further this fiscal year as demand from agencies seeking support security to generate power, and provide food and fertilisers at subsidised prices has increased.

Rice prices have edged up in Bangladesh in the last couple of days despite the cut in customs tariffs on the import of the staple food to 25 per cent to increase supply and contain prices. 

The appetite among entrepreneurs to form One Person Companies (OPCs) remains low even though 10 months have passed since the government started registering single owner-based enterprises.

The government has slashed import duty on rice until October 31 to help increase the supply of the staple and stabilise the domestic market, according to a notification issued yesterday.

Construction of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge has given a huge morale boost to local developers that were engaged in building approach roads and other facilities related to the Tk 30,200 crore bridge, which is the largest in Bangladesh.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has relaxed rules regarding value-added tax (VAT) registration of manufacturing entities operating in Bangladesh, a move welcomed by the businesses as it would reduce their cost of compliance. 

The current flooding in Sylhet has caused losses of more than Tk 140 crore for the local aquaculture industry, with farmers in Sunamganj district being the worst affected, according to a preliminary estimate by the Department of Fisheries (DoF).

The 2.5 percentage points corporate tax rate cut will encourage firms in Bangladesh to move away from cash transactions, said Naser Ezaz Bijoy, president of the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has broadened and relaxed the rules for bringing new taxpayers under the tax net by assessing their incomes on the spot.

From the next fiscal year, government agencies, implementing authorities of various publicly funded projects and corporate entities will come under greater scrutiny of taxmen as the National Board of Revenue has toughened rules to plug scope of avoidance regarding withholding tax deductions and payments. 

Until the current fiscal year, a bank account-holder requires paying a 10 per cent withholding tax on the interest earnings on deposits if the individual furnishes banks with the taxpayer identification number (TIN).

The production cost of steel makers in Bangladesh is going to increase as the revenue authority seeks to hike the value-added tax on rod and other steel products by up to 20 per cent, two leading producers said yesterday.

The government has cut its target on food distribution, which supports poor and low-income people, by 5 per cent to 30.95 lakh tonnes in the next fiscal year from the revised budget of 2021-22, finance ministry documents showed.

Over the last couple of months, various sections of society called upon the government to raise the tax-free income limit amid the rising cost of living.

People will require to submit the proof of submission of their income tax returns in order to get more than 40 types of services, including loans and trade licence, as the National Board of Revenue looks to raise more taxes.

From the next fiscal year, the tax authority is going to introduce a provision of disconnecting utility services of taxpayers for their failure to pay undisputed revenue demand of the government.