The National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman has said a 15 per cent VAT (Value Added Tax) would be applicable to businesses that claim VAT rebate.
Multiple VAT rates lower than 15 per cent would also be imposed on other products and services, he added.
Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said this at a pre-budget parley with several trade bodies ahead of the 2019-20 fiscal budget at Segunbagicha on Wednesday.
Referring that the VAT and Supplementary Duty (SD) Act 2012 will take effect soon, he said nobody would be allowed to do business without VAT registration.
The businesses should come out of informal transactions to use electronic cash registers for better record keeping of their sales, he added.
Representatives of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), Bangladesh Paper Mills Association (BPMA) and Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association (BROA) were present.
Bangladesh Security Services Companies Owners Association, Courier Services Association of Bangladesh, and Money Changers Association of Bangladesh representatives also attended the event.
BROA secretary general Rezaul Karim proposed that VAT rate for eateries (AC/non-AC) having Tk 30-million annual sales be fixed at 3.0 per cent, down from existing 7.5 per cent.
He also proposed a 6.0-per cent VAT on restaurants with the yearly sales of Tk 60 million and 10 per cent on those having sales more than Tk 60 million.
But in the new VAT law, the NBR proposed a 3.0-per cent VAT on the eateries having the annual sales of Tk 8.0 million.
It slapped a 15-per cent VAT on customers of the restaurants having more than Tk 8.0 million sales.
In reply, Mr Bhuiyan said small eateries with marginalised patrons would be out of the VAT net but medium to big ones have to collect VAT from clients.
Meanwhile, BPMA member Mohammed Younus said local paper makers are enjoying a 10-per cent incentive on export, but it has been tough to compete in the market with imported paper.
He proposed a 25-per cent import duty on coated and uncoated paper and paperboard, clue pack extensible craft paper, greaseproof and tracing paper, and composite paper and paperboard.
This is up from the existing 5.0 to 10 per cent import duties.
Syed Habib Ali of Tourism Developers Association of Bangladesh sought facilities for tour operators to import tourist transport at reduced rates for the development of domestic tourism.
Citing that excessive protectionism sometimes ruins competition in the market, the NBR chief said despite getting incentives for long, some sectors have still to stand on their own feet.
"We want to incentivise different sectors. But it has been observed that some of the businesses misuse the facility to get undue benefits," he added.
Mr Bhuiyan warned of stern action against the organisations that misuse bonded warehouse facility.
At the meeting, BAIRA secretary general Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury sought funds to arrange training and skill development programmes for aspiring migrant workers.
