Sohel Parvez

Taxpayers in the low-income bracket have something to feel good about.

People with big bank balances are going to see up to a 60 percent hike in excise duty rates the next fiscal year, as the government aims to collect higher taxes from relatively well-offs to attain the target of increased revenue collection for next fiscal year, according to the budget proposed by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

The national and global lockdown measures aimed at battling the Covid-19 pandemic have taken their toll on Bangladesh’s industrial production, obliterating tens of thousands of jobs, incomes and demand.

The government is expected to tighten tax rules to curb the scope for money laundering through under and over invoicing of exported and imported goods and through fictitious or inflated investment, said a finance ministry official.

Subsidies on fertiliser products are set to be slashed by about Tk 7,000 crore in the outgoing fiscal year as falling prices for the key farming ingredient and cheaper transport costs will ultimately enable the government to increase spending on other purposes, said numerous private importers and officials of the agriculture ministry.

Around a month has passed since programmes to procure Boro paddy and rice began, but the government has been able to buy a very insignificant quantity against its target this year, raising concerns that efforts to provide food to the poor amid the Covid-19 crisis might suffer a setback without adequate stock.

The next budget is likely to see an increase in allocation for food purchase amid coronavirus crisis as the government plans to earmark Tk 18,197 crore to buy 32.11 lakh tonnes of foodgrains for distribution among the poor and low-income groups.

The government may increase excise duty on big-ticket account balances in banks in its bid to collect more taxes from relatively well-offs to attain increased revenue collection target for next fiscal year and take the economy on the path of recovery from the COVID-19-induced slowdown.

For more than two months, Motahar Hossain has been unable to run business at his two clothing retail stores in the capital’s Bashundhara City as the major shopping centre has remained closed to keep the coronavirus pandemic at bay.

Mobile phone users are likely to face higher taxes next fiscal year as the government looks to chase a bigger revenue target riding on the essential services sector that generates more than Tk 30,000 crore in turnover a year.

The government is likely to offer Tk 2,000 to individual taxpayers next fiscal year to lure them to file returns online, as it looks to accelerate the shift from the manual filing of annual income tax statement, according to finance ministry officials.

Anticipating an increased demand for food grain, a section of rice millers and wholesalers are exhibiting stockpiling tendencies, pushing up the price of the recently harvested Boro paddy.

Businesses that have failed to file value-added tax (VAT) returns of March and April owing to the countrywide shutdown are set to get a new deadline in June to complete the tasks, said a senior official of the National Board of Revenue yesterday.

Cyclone Amphan has caused 40,800 farmers of shrimp, finfish and crab losses worth Tk 217 crore in the south and southwest coastal divisions, according to preliminary estimate by the Department of Fisheries.

It’s been almost three years since the revenue authority decided to set up the electronic fiscal device (EFD), a sales register, at shops to monitor the transactions to curb the scope of evasion of value-added tax, the biggest source of revenue for the state coffer.

The government may increase the tax-free income limit for individual taxpayers after five years in fiscal 2020-21 to give relief to people in the lower-income bracket such that they can manage the economic hardship brought on by the pandemic better, said officials of the finance ministry yesterday.

The National Board of Revenue plans to introduce e-payment for value-added tax on a pilot basis from June to automate the VAT system and administration, ease the hassles faced by businesses and reduce the time and the cost of compliance.

With the severe cyclonic storm “Amphan” approaching the coast, the agricultural office has advised farmers in coastal districts to harvest all the paddy that have matured up to at least 80 percent matured.

With the pandemic-induced lockdown battering livelihoods and choking cash flow across the board, the tax authority is working to give a breathing room to businesses and individual taxpayers in the low-income bracket.

Once the Boro harvest is completed across the country, the nation is unlikely to face cereal shortage in the next six months.