Bangladesh, Netherlands update double taxation avoidance agreement

Bangladesh and the Netherlands have renewed their agreement to avoid double taxation and prevent revenue evasion by incorporating necessary changes and eliminating inconsistencies.

Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, representing Bangladesh, and Minister for Tax Affairs and Tax Administration MLA van Rij, representing the Netherlands, signed the deal at the finance ministry in Dhaka today.

Officials at the finance ministry say the agreement was signed in 1993. Since then, numerous changes have occurred in international norms related to the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of revenue evasion. Additionally, Bangladesh is currently undergoing a transition period from being a least developed country to a developing one.

Efforts have been made to amend the double tax avoidance agreements signed with various countries in the past to eliminate inconsistencies in them. In that context, the agreement signed between Bangladesh and the Netherlands was amended, and a new agreement was signed.

The new treaty comprises 33 articles, with several new articles added to broaden the scope of taxation and collect tax from new areas.

According to a press release issued by the finance ministry, the new agreement provides tax-free benefits only to state-owned institutions. It will be possible to ensure the collection of tax at a maximum rate of 10% in the case of payment of bills against services.

The new agreement includes a provision that capital gains on the transfer of shares are taxable in Bangladesh. It will be possible to collect tax from capital gains earned in the source country, Bangladesh.

Both contracting states shall assist each other in collecting tax claims, it added.

National Board of Revenue Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem and Finance Secretary Md Khairuzzaman Mazumdar were present at the signing ceremony.

According to the finance ministry, Bangladesh is one of the 15 major partner countries of the Netherlands. In the fiscal 2022-2023, Bangladesh's exports to the Netherlands were $2 billion.

Exports from Bangladesh to the Netherlands include knitwear, ovens, garments, lobsters, shoes, textiles, leather goods, and bicycles. On the other hand, Bangladesh imported goods worth $300 million from the Netherlands in fiscal 2022-2023.

These imports comprise capital machinery, vegetables, prepared food ingredients, live animals (animals and birds), minerals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, organic chemicals, plastics, and rubber.

The Netherlands ranks fourth in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh. The Netherlands has invested more than $2.56 billion in Bangladesh until fiscal 2019-2020. The Netherlands' investments are increasing in the fields of energy, trade, the leather sector, leather goods, and cement.