Industries to be relocated in the underdeveloped regions in the country from the overcrowded cities like Dhaka are likely to get an attractive income tax rebate in the coming budget for the fiscal year 2014-15, finance ministry officials said.
Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith may propose the rebate scheme in his budget speech in parliament for the relocated industries which are not eligible for tax holiday facility between July 2014 and June 2019, they said.
Newly established industries may also get the facility, they added.
The rate of tax rebate may be set at 20 per cent for the both shifted and newly established industries within 2019 which are not entitled for tax holiday scheme.
The existing industries in such areas may also get 10 per cent rebate for five years till 2019.
Officials said that the National Board of Revenue recommended the government for providing the tax break to the entrepreneurs for relocating factories from cities like Dhaka and Chittagong and establishing new factories in other districts to keep the cities livable and ensure balanced development in the country.
Dhaka and adjacent industrial areas have already become the worst cities to live in because of unplanned factories set up there which are also causing severe industrial accidents and putting workers’ life at risk, they said.
International buyers are also putting pressure to relocate the industries from cities, particularly those housed in shared buildings.
The government should provide tax benefits to entrepreneurs for relocating factories otherwise Bangladesh’s exports may face severe consequences in future, officials said.
‘The tax measures, if passed in parliament, will encourage entrepreneurs to shift their industries from Dhaka and make fresh investment in different districts,’ a high official of the NBR said.
Shifting industries mainly readymade garment units from Dhaka and other major cities will keep the cities fit for human habitation and expand investments to district level and thus help in reducing poverty from remote areas, he said.
The revenue board considers underdeveloped regions which are lagging behind economically and industrially. The term, however, will be specified later through issuing notification, officials said.
According to the Income Tax Ordinance-1984, there are 17 sectors each in industrial undertakings and physical infrastructures that are eligible for getting tax holiday facility.
The industrial undertakings are active pharmaceuticals ingredient industry, barrier contraceptives and rubber latex, basic chemicals or dyes and chemicals, basic ingredients of electronic industry, bio-fertilizer, biotechnology, boilers, compressors, computer hardware, energy efficient appliances, insecticide or pesticide, petro-chemicals, pharmaceuticals, processing of locally produced fruits and vegetables, radio-active application industry, textile machinery and tissue grafting.
The sectors under physical infrastructure eligible for tax holiday are deep sea port, elevated expressway, export processing zone, flyover, gas pipe line, Hi-tech park, Information and Communication Technology village or software technology zone, Information Technology (IT) park, large water treatment plant and supply through pipe line, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal and transmission line, mono-rail, rapid transit, renewable energy, sea or river port, toll road, underground rail and waste treatment plant.
-With New Age input
