Surviving Pandemic: Media should get tax cuts
Former information minister and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haq Inu yesterday urged the government to come forward and help the country's media, which has been affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Taking part in the discussion on the proposed national budget for 2020-21 fiscal in parliament, Inu said the corporate tax should be reduced from 25 percent to 10 percent and VAT on newsprint should be reduced to five percent from the existing 15.
He also said tax at source on advertising income should be two percent instead of four and excise duty on raw materials should be reduced to zero from five percent.
For the telecom sector, the JSD MP said the five percent supplementary duty on mobile phones and the 15 percent VAT on the internet will have to be completely withdrawn.
Criticising the allocations in the budget for different sectors, the former minister said that though the finance minister has set the priorities correctly, the sector-wise allocations don't meet the needs during a pandemic.
"There is no allocation that will open new horizons by changing the total structure of the healthcare system. There is no statement in the budget on the demand for reform in the revenue sector, banking sector and capital market," he said.
Inu said the original allocation in the healthcare sector has been reduced in this budget.
Claiming that there was no allocation in the proposed budget to tackle Covid-19, except for a block allocation of Tk 10,000 crore and the stimulus package announced by the Prime Minister, Inu said a budget outside the box was needed this time.
"After going through the proposed budget, it seems like there is no pandemic in the country. It's a very ordinary budget for a time as unusual as this."
He said while there are some good proposals in the tax sector, including the protection of domestic industries, there are no major reforms.
On area-based lockdowns, he said although the red-green-yellow zones have been declared late, it was a good initiative.
"But the management work has not been done in those locked down areas and there are no healthcare workers who will work there, he said, adding, "We need a national committee of public health experts, not a technical one."
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