The Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) on Sunday proposed a cut in corporate tax on newspapers from 30 per cent to 10-15 per cent, considering the sector's declining financial health.
The NOAB also proposed waiver of the existing 15 per cent VAT on newsprint import by the newspapers or at least reduce it to 5.0 per cent, considering the item's recent price hike in the international market.
The proposals were placed at a pre-budget meeting of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) with the NOAB and the Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO) at the NBR conference room in the city's Segunbagicha area.
Presided over by NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, the programme was addressed by NOAB President A K Azad, ATCO Vice-President Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, NOAB members Mahfuz Anam and Dewan Hanif Mahmud, and NBR members Md Masud Sadiq, Zakia Sultana and Md Shamsuddin Ahmed.
Placing the budget proposals, Mr Azad said the newspaper industry has long been facing various challenges due to transformation of media from print to digital, while revenue from advertisement has dropped significantly during the pandemic.
Mentioning that the price of newsprint in global market increased to US$890 per tonne from $570, he said: "Considering the price hike of the key material of the sector, we propose to exempt the existing 15 per cent VAT on newsprint import or at least cut it to 5.0 per cent."
"Despite significant drop in revenue from advertisement due to the pandemic, the newspaper sector didn't get any support from the government."
The NOAB president noted that the sector has seen a whopping 55 per cent drop due to the pandemic.
Proposing a cut in the corporate tax on newspapers, Mr Azad noted that although the sector does not generate that much profit, it gives corporate tax like many other profitable companies.
"The newspaper industry pays 30 per cent corporate tax, which shouldn't be more than 10 to 15 per cent."
Besides, he proposed to reduce tax deducted at source (TDS) on income from advertisement from 4.0 per cent to 2.0 per cent, and abolishing existing 5.0 per cent advance income tax (AIT) on raw material.
Meanwhile, Mahfuz Anam said both print and electronic media provide sort of social service to the society, so the sector should be considered for different types of tax exemption.
He also requested the NBR to relieve newspapers from paying the income tax of its workers, as no other industry does so.
Responding to that proposal, the NBR chairman said newspapers pay the income tax of their workers as per the wage board rules for the sector. The NBR has nothing to do with it, as the issue is not within its jurisdiction.
He added: "It is true that the news organisations don't generate that much profit. Considering the sector a special one, the NBR will think whether its corporate tax can be reduced or not."
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said electronic media outlets pay VAT on their advertisement revenue, which was previously paid at source.
"We usually get advertisement via agencies or directly from companies. So the VAT should be realised from them - as part of reducing tax burden on media."
Mr Chowdhury also proposed to make set-top boxes tax-free to accelerate digitization of cable TV networks.
ahb_mcj2009@yahoo.com