VAT waiver for lift making extended for three years

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has extended the value added tax (VAT) exemption benefit for lift manufacturing for three years until June 30 of 2025 to encourage domestic assembling of elevator.

The manufacturers will also enjoy also the VAT waiver in case of importing components and machinery of lift, the Internal Resources Division (IRD) said in a notification on March 21.

"We have also waived advance tax on import of materials for lift making. This will reduce working capital pressure on them," said a senior official of the NBR, which is under the IRD of the finance ministry.

The revenue authority's move comes as the existing VAT exemption benefit is set to expire on March 30 this year.

The NBR first provided the benefit on May 14 in 2020 to facilitate domestic manufacturing capacity of elevator, demand for which is growing for construction of multi-storied buildings.

Currently, some local firms namely Walton and RFL Group assemble lifts in Bangladesh to feed the growing market.