Sohel Parvez

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday exempted value-added tax on domestic manufacturing on personal protective equipment (PPE) and surgical face mask to reduce the cost and encourage increased production for the fight against coronavirus.

The National Board of Revenue yesterday asked field offices dealing value-added taxes to monitor sales at restaurants and shops at malls and markets to ensure collection of the actual indirect tax.

The searing devastation of coronavirus all over the globe has called for extraordinary measures from governments worldwide. And Bangladesh is no exception.

The government is likely to give relief to taxpayers from penalties for their inability to comply with deadlines during the shutdown, said finance ministry officials.

An early harvest of maize has come as a stroke of luck for farmers as they are getting better prices amid low imports as the coronavirus pandemic has fractured the supply chain, according to farmers.

Perhaps Bangladesh has the highest number of people out of jobs thanks to the protracted shutdown that has taken away income opportunities for tens of thousands of people, particularly in the informal sector. Or, perhaps not.

People employed in the informal sector get little attention from the policymakers although they account for 85 per cent of the country’s total employed population of 6.08 crore and keep the wheel of the economy humming.

Farmers are expected to bag a higher amount of boro paddy this harvesting season thanks to favourable weather and low pest infestation, a development that may offer some breathing room to the nation now reeling under coronavirus-induced uncertainty.

Revenue collection soared 8 per cent in the first nine months of the fiscal year, paced by the increased collection of advance corporate tax and higher receipts of indirect tax value-added tax (VAT).

The government is working to develop a database of nearly 1.25 crore beneficiary families to ensure proper distribution of food aid and plug the loopholes in the current distribution system, said officials at two ministries.

Shop owners yesterday urged the commerce ministry to allow the opening of retail and wholesale stores from the first of May seeing that several garments factories were given the go-ahead to reopen.

In a moment of crisis, many reach out for comfort foods.

There has been a stunning slump in demand for meat and eggs since coronavirus arrived on these shores. And the dizzying speed at which the lethal pathogen went about upending life in the country prompted many farms, slapped by unprecedented losses, to cut back on production by more than half.

Sea fishermen have urged the government to relax the restriction on trawling in the deep waters of the Bay of Bengal to help them recoup losses in sales inflicted by the ongoing shutdown caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.

Farmers who have cultivated black tiger shrimp for the export markets in the hope of making profits were dealt with a massive blow by the coronavirus pandemic, which has shattered their dreams by devastating the supply chain and prompting a collapse in demand.

The revenue board yesterday directed its customs stations to facilitate clearance of all export and import consignments, moving away from its previous position to process documents for only essentials, industrial raw materials and emergency medical products.

Food insecurity among the poor and economically vulnerable population has started and the crisis will intensify by the end of this month if the government does not take any immediate steps, said a recent study.

Supermarkets are registering surging sales amid people’s quest to find a more sanitised place than kitchen markets to buy foodstuffs and household products in these times of coronavirus.

An announcement from the National Board of Revenue regarding the filing of value-added tax returns have thrown businesses into trouble.

Since April 1, Farhana Nazira is having trouble sleeping.