Reduce advance income tax to 3%: FBCCI
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI) has urged the National Board of Revenue to reduce Advance Income Tax (AIT) at the import stage to 3% from 5% to reduce the cost of business.
The FBCCI made the demand at the 43rd budget consultative meeting with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Thursday.
Both the finance minister and NBR chairman were present at the meeting.
The AIT is a type of tax levied on goods imported for commercial purposes. This tax is not levied on the import of consumer goods.
The AIT system was introduced in 2006 to bring unregistered importers under the tax net.
It was 3% till June 2010, before being raised to 5%.
In March last year, businesses demanded a complete withdrawal of AIT, saying it was neither refunded nor adjusted in any cases.
They said they currently paid 0.5%-10% in AIT on raw material imports.
Many were supposed to get refunds in the case of no profits, but that did, manufacturers claimed.