Internet services should be included in IT services: Almas Kabir

The National Board of Revenue is going to announce the budget for the fiscal year 2022-2023 next month. The effects of the pandemic have created an unusual, extraordinary, volatile, uncertain, dangerous and risky situation in almost every aspect of life, health and livelihoods and economic activities worldwide. In this situation, everyone is hopeful that the budget for FY 2022-23 will be formulated and announced with the objective of accelerating livelihood and economic activities by adopting strategies to protect lives i.e. minimize health risks. Syed Almas Kabir, President of Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI), Director of FBCCI and former President of BASIS. Emphasized on full automation, export diversification and promotion of local industrialization and ensuring investment friendly environment to achieve economic growth goals. He said Bangladesh and the world economy are now fully operational after the last two years due to the constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now is the time for Bangladesh in terms of domestic demand, employment and economic recovery. At the same time, due to external global developments, potential instability in the energy market in the European economy and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, our local economies as well as the world are facing high inflationary pressures, logistical and supply chain disruptions. The forthcoming budget must reflect the transition from such an adverse situation. Referring to the current situation in Sri Lanka, he said the two economies are different, and the direction of export and development is different. Our external debt is less which is about 17% of our GDP. The gap between our exports and import remittances versus our imports and external remittances such as debt repayment is narrowing sharply. We have spent about 40,000 crore Taka for vaccines. Therefore, according to Mr. Almas Kabir, the forthcoming budget is very important for Bangladesh to overcome all these limitations. Mr. Almas Kabir said that the number of taxpayers in our country is very inadequate. The number of taxpayers should be increased without increasing the tax rate. As the tax net increases, there will be no need to set higher tax rates. At the same time, there is a need to launch a massive campaign to make online income tax return filing system more popular. Malaysia Chamber's Recommendations for Inclusion in the Upcoming Budget: o The passage from the LDCs could have a negative impact on our exports due to lack of proper preparation. Various incentives to increase export earnings should be continued. o Ensure that other potential export sectors get regular bonded benefits like readymade garment industry. o To encourage investment in eco-friendly or green industrialization, keep the corporate tax gap between NBR general factories and eco-friendly industries at least 5 percent. o In accordance with the National Information Technology Policy, the tax exemption facility for software and ITES sector should be maintained till 2030. o Inclusion of Internet Services and Training on IT / ITES in the definition of ITES o Tax problems need to be solved to reduce foreign dependence. Individual taxpayers are not displaying property taxes properly. The National Board of Revenue should take immediate action. o The rate of corporate tax in the budget is still much higher than in neighboring countries which needs to be resolved immediately. o Provide 5% cash incentive to encourage digital payments. o Enhance the capacity of NBR and ensure that traders are not harassed o Formulate long term tax structure for investors. In addition, many decisions regarding income tax, VAT and duties are affected by the impact on traders, consumers, taxpayers or revenue, then the corrective decision to be made, etc. o Speed ​​up implementation of tariff policy by determining what benefits should be given to local industries on priority basis. o Make e-tin mandatory in holding tax process. o Increase in expatriate income i.e. emphasis on remittances. o Provide funds to encourage women entrepreneurs in the ICT sector and provide financial incentives to create employment for women. o Allocate at least 10% of the budget for the purchase of software and ITES for the internal development of all the Ministries and their affiliated agencies. In addition to the huge amount of money being smuggled every year, a law called Transfer Pricing was enacted in 2013 to curb this smuggling. In fact, we do not know how much progress it has made. It remains to be seen whether tougher laws like India or South Korea can be enacted to curb money laundering.