Duty-Free Delight: Travelers Allowed Extra Mobile Phone Without Tax

From July 3, travelers returning to Bangladesh from abroad will be able to bring one additional new mobile phone per year without paying customs duties and taxes. Currently, expatriates can bring two used mobile phones along with one new phone, but they must pay duties for the new device. The interim government has revised this policy in the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The new baggage rules, issued in a gazette notification on June 3, will take effect 30 days after publication. Under the revised policy, travelers can now bring two used phones plus one new phone annually without any tax obligation.

At present, bringing a new mobile phone worth up to Tk 30,000 incurs a duty of Tk 5,000. For phones priced between Tk 30,000 and Tk 60,000, the duty is Tk 10,000, while those exceeding Tk 60,000 attract a duty of Tk 25,000. Customs authorities may confiscate undeclared mobile phones.

Meanwhile, the baggage rules have reduced duty-free allowances for land ports. Previously, travelers could bring duty-free goods worth up to $400 three times a year, but this has now been limited to once a year. The import of outdated items such as cassette players, discmans, typewriters, walkmans, fax machines, 19-inch LCD monitors, and push-button phones has been discontinued.

However, travelers can still bring duty-free items including desktops/laptops, scanners, printers, video and digital cameras, toasters, blenders, juicers, pressure cookers, gas ovens, electric sewing machines, table or ceiling fans, 29-inch TVs, one carton of cigarettes, 15 square meters of carpet, baby carriages, strollers, calculators, regular CDs, and audio components with up to four speakers.

Items requiring duty payments include TVs priced between Tk 10,000 and Tk 90,000 (above 30-66 inches), home theaters above Tk 8,000 (with more than four speakers), mobile phones priced between Tk 5,000 and Tk 25,000, refrigerators/deep freezers (Tk 4,000-15,000), air conditioners (Tk 7,000-20,000), professional cameras (above Tk 15,000), air guns/rifles (Tk 5,000), and washing machines, ovens, and chandeliers ranging from Tk 2,000 to Tk 6,000 depending on type.