Parliament passes Land Development Tax Bill 2023

The Land Development Tax Bill -2023 was passed in the parliament with a provision to collect land development tax through electronic system in every fiscal year instead of Bangla calendar year.

Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury moved the bill which was unanimously passed by voice votes in the House with Deputy Speaker Shamsul Huq Tuku in the chair.

Piloting the bill, the minister said, "All land development taxes will have to be paid online", adding that the owners of less than 25 bighas (8.25 acres) won't require paying taxes.

The proposed act will be enacted by repealing the land development Ordinance 1976.

The Union Assistant Land Officer (Tahsildar) will prepare a list mentioning the specific amounts of tax for every landowner and send the list to the assistant commissioner (AC-Land) to display it in the latter's office. If anyone is aggrieved with the amount of tax, the person can lodge an objection before the AC Land and also the district collector. The district collector will dispose of it within 15 days, he noted.

Jatiya party lawmakers Hafiz Uddin, MP, of Thakurgaon-3, Shamim Haider Patwary, MP, of Gaibandha-1, Rowshan Ara Manan, MP, of women seat-47, Kazi Feroz Rashid, MP, of Dhaka-6, Rustam Ali Farazi, MP, of Pirojpur-3, Rezaul Karim Bablu, MP, of Bogura-7 and Gano Forum, MP, Mokabbir Khan of Sylhet-3, among others, participated in the discussion on the bill.

Earlier, the proposed bill was sent to the parliamentary standing committee for scrutinizing and submitting report.