‘Stop harassment in pretext of VAT collection’

Businesses today urged the government to take steps for stopping harassment by a section of officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in the name of tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) collection.

“We are frequently being informed that the field level officials of the NBR have been harassing businessmen in the name of VAT collection,” said Sheikh Fazle Fahim, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

“All these kinds of the harassments need to be stopped as the prime minister has already announced zero tolerance against corruption,” said Fahim while he was presenting the post-budget proposals to the government at a discussion on the proposed budget for the fiscal 2019-20 and finance bill held at a hotel in Dhaka.

The FBCCI organised the discussion. Businessmen from across the country including leaders from district level chambers and trade bodies, exporters, importers, assemblers and manufacturers in presence of government high-ups.

Usually, FBCCI reacts just on the following day of the budget speech. This year too, FBCCI came up with its reaction on the budget on June 15.

However, this year, the FBCCI reacted twice on the national budget for 2019-20 fiscal formally.

Rubana Huq, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said the VAT and tax officials have been inspecting the factories frequently whenever they want and they are harassing the factory owners, especially the small and medium unit owners.

She urged the government for withdrawing the proposed 10 percent tax on receipts of cash incentives.

Syed Mahbubur Rahman, president of Association of Bankers Bangladesh urged the government to withdraw the tariff value on import of bank card chips to facilitate the digital payment in the banking system.