The National Board of Revenue (NBR) would assess the strength of local assembling industries to see whether the sector has been able to achieve the capacity of complete manufacturing process over the years and to pay tax.
The exercise would be carried out as part of a plan to phase out tax exemption provided to such industries for a long period of time, aiming to help build local manufacturing capacities.
Many of the assemblers continued to enjoy the exemption without focusing on manufacturing such products locally, NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem told a pre-budget meeting in the capital on Sunday.
"Time has come to review the state of capacity," he said, adding that the facility should not continue for an indefinite period.
"We've started phasing out tax exemption for the local mobile phone manufacturers as we found them built capacity to pay tax," said the NBR chief, stressing the need for limiting the tax benefit to make the country ready for graduation.
He, however, assured of continuing with the tax exemption commensurate with the industries' capacities to be assessed under the plan.
The NBR held pre-budget meetings with the Bangladesh-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BICCI), Bangladesh-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCCI), Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) and Women Entrepreneurs Network for Development (WEND) on Sunday.
Placing their pre-budget proposals, the businesses demanded allowing import payments in Indian and Chinese currencies to facilitate imports of products from the two countries amid the ongoing crisis of US dollar in the country.
The BCCCI demanded allowing transactions of Chinese Yuan equivalent to US$ 5.0 billion while the BICCI sought permission for allowing Indian Rupees equivalent to $ 2.0 billion.
Matlub Ahmad of BICCI said the government should allow importers to pay in Indian Rupees to reduce pressure on the US dollar.
He also proposed to ease pressure on Benapole-Petrapole customs stations by diverting imported goods to other ports.
Ishtiaq Hossain of the BCCCI said Chinese currencies should be allowed for importing products from China due to shortage of the US dollar.
Senior journalist Sukanta Gupta Alak of ATMA said the NBR can earn 30 per cent more revenue worth Tk 96 billion from tobacco sector by introducing specific tax at a unified rate having price slabs in all cigarette brands.
Nadia Binte Amin of WEND demanded an increase in the tax-free income ceiling for women, senior citizens and physically challenged people.
She also proposed to cut corporate tax rate for women entrepreneurs and simplify VAT rules for them.
The WEND president proposed to introduce a carbon tax for reducing carbon emissions.
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