President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) AbulKasem Khan has proposed the government to reconsider slashing corporate tax in all categories at least 2.5%.
In the proposed budget, government only reduces 2.5% corporate tax on publicly and non-publicly traded banks, insurance and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), drawing criticism from various quarters.
In his initial reaction on National Budget 2018-19, Khan had said if the government reduced corporate tax rate, they would be happy and willing to reinvest that money into the business.
“At present private sector investment as a percentage of GDP is 23%, but if we want to increase it by even 1% , Taka 25,000 crore needs to be invested in a year. Government has set a target to increase private sector investment to GDP ratio to 25.15%, which will be challenging if corporate tax rate is not cut down,” he said.
In the proposed budget, double taxation system on dividend is withdrawn which Abul Kasem Khan hailed.
He also hailed the decision of the government for reducing duty onimports of accessories for locally produced motorcycles, mobile phones and tire tubes.
He said government should increase the budget on railway under ADP which is Tk 11,155 crore, a 3.1% increase over that of last year.
The DCCI chief said budget outlay for railways should be doubledfor better communication.
The government has formed a Committeenamed “National Committee for Monitoring and Implementation”to work out how to position Bangladesh in the top 100 of the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index within the next five years,something Abul Kasem appreciated in his instant reaction.
He proposed inclusion of private sector participants in this Committee.
He also proposed not to increase VAT rate this year.He also hails the ADP allocation of Taka 173,000 crore which increase 16.6 percent from the revised ADP for the current, outgoing fiscal.
The DCCI President hailed the government for allocating Tk 100 crore for skill development projects.
In this regard he said that tax rebate should be given on the 5% of gross income of a company that is invested in research and development and skill development activities.
