Making taxation easy for businesses

The tax rates keep changing every fiscal year as is the common practice everywhere. In many cases, it is not possible that all the businesses will be able to keep track of the changes very easily. To ease their task a book named 'Bangladesh Customs Tariff' containing the tax-structure for the fiscal year (FY) 2017-18 has been launched. It has been compiled by Mohammed Ruhul Amin, an official of the National Board of Revenue (NBR). It is the seventh edition of the book.

Bangladesh's is an import-based economy. The businesses here need to have a clear and comprehensive idea about the duties and taxes to be paid as the government brings about changes in the tax rates in the budget through the Finance Bill every fiscal year. So, the businesses need to have an update on the tax structure as they have to calculate their profit margin after the total expenditure, including duties and taxes on their imported products. This book will suffice their need.

The NBR's three wings-Customs, Value Added Tax (VAT) and Income Tax-frame their respective tax structures by amending their respective laws every year. Some changes in the duties and taxes seem complicated to many businesses in the absence of a comprehensive chart of tax rates. This book will meet that requirement of the businesses to a great extent. The book on customs tariff structure will also help both importers and exporters know the actual tax incidence of products.

The book has updated import tax structures for all the products. All types of imported products customs duty, supplementary duty, regulatory duty, advance income tax (AIT), advance trade Vat (ATV) and VAT are charged are there in the book with their respective total tax incidence (TTT) furnished in a better way. It has also segmented the products under zero duty.

Increase and decrease of different taxes often confuse the businesses about the actual tax incidence of a product. Sometimes readjustment of different duties and taxes also makes the businesses confused. Reduction of CD does not mean that taxes on that product will go down as there may be other taxes like SD, AIT or ATV on it. So this book will help the entrepreneurs, businesses, importers, exporters, agents and researchers do their job without being puzzled over the taxation.

The writer is very much indebted to AFM Abdullah, commissioner of Chittagong Customs House, as it was his inspiration that made it happen. He also acknowledges the support lent by Md Fazlur Rahman, system analyst of NBR, Golam Sarwar, its assistant programmer, FM Ziaul Ahsan Manju, consultant of World Bank and research fellow of the Policy Research Institute (PRI) and Liton Kumar Nondi of the budget wing under the NBR customs policy in compiling the much-needed book.