Sohel Parvez

The rising shipment of jute and jute goods from Bangladesh has come to a halt owing to higher prices of the raw fibre and unprecedentedly high freight costs.

For the last three years Md Saiful Islam has been preparing and submitting his income tax returns all by himself.

Bangladesh is forecast to remain ahead of India in terms of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in the next five years to 2026 powered by buoyancy in remittance, exports and agricultural activities.

Revenue collection soared nearly 15 per cent to Tk 34,548 crore in the July-August period of the current fiscal year from Tk 30,160 crore, powered by a recovery in economic and business activities since lifting of the countrywide lockdown early August.

With owners of digital commerce companies Evaly and E-orange behind bars and facing trials on allegations of embezzlement, the funds of thousands of customers have been stuck in the payment channels because of legal complexity.

By this time, it is known to many that the government has reduced the interest rate on savings certificate and wage earners bond for investments above Tk 15 lakh.

Appetite for purchases through online platforms using cards declined in July this year from that a month ago, as people have become cautious in placing orders following a series of scams centring e-commerce companies having started to come to light.

It has been six months since farmers have harvested potato and wheat. However, if anyone requests for data about the quantity of the crops produced and their acreage in the latest harvest from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the state agency responsible for generating data nationally, they will be disappointed as no information is available.

Bangladesh continues to remain highly dependent on cigarette and tobacco products for its value-added tax (VAT) collection as the health hazards account for nearly one-third of the indirect tax generated by the domestic market.

Revenue collection grew marginally in July owing to the slowdown in business activities in the face of the government’s restrictions to combat the coronavirus spread.

Soybean oil consumption is growing faster than that of palm oil, buoyed by increasing preference among families to prepare foods.

Anyone with experience of preparing tax returns is aware that there is a complicated part: matching asset with liability.

A bumper yield of potato has now become a matter of concern for growers and traders as demand for the tuber declined for the ongoing countrywide lockdown.

The economy grew 3.51 per cent in the fiscal year 2019-20, the slowest pace of expansion in three decades, as the pandemic wreaked havoc across the country, according to the final figure of state-run Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

Exports declined in July as reduced working days for Eid-ul-Azha and coronavirus containment measures affected the production and shipment of most of the items, including clothing, the main foreign currency earner.

The value-added tax exemption for producing air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers locally has created interest among home appliance manufacturers in Bangladesh as firms are increasingly setting up full-fledged facilities, cutting their reliance on assembling.

From the current fiscal year, taxpayers will be required to pay taxes of up to Tk 5 lakh through automated chalans or electronic transfers.

Despite a bumper yield of Boro paddy in the just concluded season, rice prices are going up, putting increasing pressure on low-income people, many of whom are suffering from income losses for the lockdown and pandemic-induced slowdown of economic activities.

Every year, the last week of November sees a mad rush of individual taxpayers at the tax offices and tax fairs. The reason is obvious: the final deadline to file annual income, expenditure and wealth statements without penalty is November 30, termed as Tax Day.

The government is likely to keep the opportunity to whiten black money without asking any question on the source of fund in the next fiscal year owing to the lobby from various quarters, said officials of the finance ministry.