The government has proposed to reduce the specific duty on import of gold to facilitate travellers bring in gold bars, and jewellery through the appropriate channel.
According to the budget speech for fiscal year 2019-20, a passenger will be able to bring 11.664 gm (one Bhori or tola) of gold, after paying duty charges proposed at Tk2000 from existing Tk3000 for both unwrought, and semi manufactured gold.
For import of gold bar (up to 234gm), the price has been proposed to be down from Tk3000 to Tk2000 as well.
The annual demand for gold in Bangladesh is between 20-40 tons.
Almost 80% of this demand is met with smuggled gold, as traders faced difficulties importing the precious metal, due to complex procedures laid out in Gold Policy 2018, which was cleared by the government in October, 2018.
In a notification on May 28 earlier this year, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said that if any trader wants to disclose their undeclared stock of gold, they will have to pay Tk1,000 per bhori (11.664 grams).
In the case of cut and polished diamonds, the tax will be Tk6,000 per carat.
The authorities also fixed the tax for silver at Tk50 per bhori.
The old offer will stay valid until Jun 30, 2019.
Read the full budget speech for FY20 here.
