Speaker, Deputy Speaker, MPs
2 bills placed to make taxes mandatory
Two bills were placed in parliament yesterday seeking to amend the laws to make it mandatory for the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and lawmakers to pay taxes on their remuneration.
State Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Md Qamrul Islam placed the bills on behalf of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shafique Ahmed.
The proposed laws will be enforced with retrospective effect from July 1, 2011.
Remunerations of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and MPs were free of income tax, according to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker (Remuneration and Allowances) Act, 1974 and Members of Parliament (Remuneration and Allowances) Order, 1973.
Usually any Bangladeshi's income above certain limit is taxable. So there is discrimination between the common people and the MPs regarding taxation, the law minister told the House. The bills have been placed to end the discrimination, he added.
The cabinet on November 28 last year approved proposals for amending the laws.
Earlier on November 17, the cabinet also endorsed proposals for amending The Prime Minister's (Remuneration and Allowances) Act, 1975 and The Ministers, Ministers for State and Deputy Ministers (Remuneration and Allowances) Act, 1973 to make it mandatory for the prime minister, ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers to pay taxes on their remuneration.
The law minister also placed another bill in parliament seeking to enact a law by repealing the current Powers-of-Attorney Act, 1882.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Shahara Khatun placed a bill seeking to enact a law to prevent human trafficking by repealing Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act, 1933.
All the bills were sent to the standing committees on the ministries concerned for scrutiny and placing reports in the House.
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