Reconditioned car importers and dealers on Tuesday proposed that the revenue authority adjust tax rates of brand new and reconditioned cars in order to increase overall tax collection and safeguard the interests of sellers of the used cars.
They also urged the authorities concerned to withdraw supplementary duty on hybrid electric cars and minibuses (10 to 15 seats), and reduce import duty on reconditioned buses (40 seats or over).
The proposals were placed by the Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) at a pre-budget meeting hosted by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) at its headquarters in the city's Segunbagicha.
Presided over by NBR Member (tax policy) Md Alamgir Hossain, the programme was addressed by BARVIDA president Abdul Haque, its general secretary Mohammad Shahidul Islam, vice-president Saiful Islam Samrat, NBR member (customs and VAT admin) Md Saiful Islam, member (customs policy and ICT) Syed Golam Kibria, among others.
Placing BARVIDA's proposals for upcoming fiscal 2021-2022, its president Abdul Haque said the sale of imported used cars has reduced significantly due to discriminatory tax rates on reconditioned cars comparing to the brand new ones.
Due to different reasons, prices of reconditioned cars are higher than brand new ones in many cases, affecting the government's revenue collection as well, he said.
Besides, prices of brand new cars are determined according to the declaration by importers - it has created scope of tax evasion through under-invoicing, said the BARVIDA president.
He also called for fixing tax rates by restructuring cylinder capacity (CC) limits of imported used cars.
Haque proposed imposing 'specific duty' on reconditioned cars to reduce discrimination on tax rates between used and brand new cars.
Specific duty means a tax that is given as a fixed rate for each unit of a good or service, rather than based on its value.
Meanwhile, BARVIDA leaders demanded withdrawal of existing 20 per cent supplementary duty on hybrid electric cars to gradually reduce use of fossil fuel by 2030.
They proposed slashing the 30 per cent supplementary duty on import of used microbus (10 to 15 seats).
Besides, they also called the revenue authority to cut import duty on reconditioned buses (40 seats or over) to 1.0 per cent from existing 10 per cent.
Speaking on the occasion, NBR Member Hossain said the budget proposals from the BARVIDA would be considered by the NBR as these would be supportive to increase revenue collection.
