Heavily criticizing the move to increase holding tax in Dhaka and Chittagong metropolitan cities, members of parliament from both the ruling and the opposition parties on Thursday urged the government to reconsider the move.
Otherwise, this move will certainly have an adverse impact on the next general election, they warned.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and Jatiya Party lawmakers Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu and Kazi Feroz Rashid spoke on the issue taking floor on point of order.
“People will not accept ninefold increment of holding tax at one go. This needs to be reconsidered,” said the commerce minister, who is an MP from Bhola.
Mentioning that he himself owns a townhouse in Banani area, the minister said: “For example, if holding tax jumps up from Tk8,000 to Tk72,000, it is going to draw serious backlash for the government.”
Chittagong lawmaker Ziauddin Ahmed said denizens from his city had been criticizing the move as well.
Kazi Feroz Rashid said: “It does not matter whether the government increased the tax rate once in 10 years. What matters is the amount of increment, which is not people-friendly.”
The article was first published in Bangla Tribune