To keep the market price of daily essential food items within the purchasing power of the general public, the government is reducing customs duty on imported food products and completely withdrawing them in some cases. In continuation of this, the government has reduced import duty and all advance taxes on date imports to keep prices at a bearable level during the coming Ramadan.
This information was revealed in a notification signed by National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md. Abdur Rahman Khan on Thursday (November 21).
According to the notification, in order to keep dates within the purchasing power of the general public during the month of Ramadan, the existing customs duty on date imports has been reduced from 25 percent to 15 percent, advance income tax has been reduced from 10 percent to 3 percent, and the existing 5 percent advance tax has been completely withdrawn, i.e. the total tax burden has been reduced from 63.60 percent to 38.70 percent.
The reduction in the existing customs duty on date imports could reduce the import cost of dates per kilogram from around Tk. 60 to Tk. 100, depending on the quality. The notification states that the reduction in customs duty at the import stage will increase the import of dates, increase the supply of dates in the market, and keep the selling price of dates within the purchasing power of the common people.