Tk 60b additional tax can be collected from property tax: CPD

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on Wednesday proposed to impose property tax and inheritance tax to reduce wealth inequality and increase revenue collection.

The CPD says that an additional amount of Tk 60 billion (Tk 6,000 crore) can be generated from property tax by proper implementation of their recommendations.

The proposal came from the CPD Dialogue on ‘State and scope of property taxation in Bangladesh’, held in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Saifuzzaman Chowdhury MP, minister for land, was present as the chief guest, while Shameem Haider Patwary MP was the special guest.

Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow of the CPD, presented a keynote paper on the topic, highlighting that proper collection of property tax, holding tax and inheritance tax will create opportunities to reduce wealth inequality.

Inheritance tax, a form of wealth tax, is levied on property and money is acquired from gifts or inheritance.

Debapriya said that the growing wealth and income inequality within the country highlights the need to enhance tax fairness by increasing tax collection.

He said that fairness in revenue collection and taxation should be taken seriously to deal with the trends of rising income disparity and the increasing wealth inequality in the country.

 “So, the introduction of wealth tax has become imperative now," Dr Debapriya said.

Currently, there is no specific tax referred to as a "wealth tax" in the country. There are six types of taxes and duties that can be roughly categorised as wealth-related tax.

These include the land development tax, holding tax, capital gains tax, stamp duty, wealth surcharge, and, to a lesser extent, the gift tax, though its effectiveness is limited.

Also, there is no specific tax imposed on the gifting of wealth from relatives, nor is there any form of inheritance tax in place, he said.

Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive director of CPD, was in the chair while Maurizio Cian, head of cooperation of EU to Bangladesh, former chairmen of NBR Dr Muhammad Abdul Mazid, Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed, and Ahsan H Mansur, Executive Director of Policy Research Institute (PRI), Snehasish Barua, charter accountant, among others, spoke on the occasion.