From now on, mobile phone users will have to pay 3% supplementary duty, instead of the original proposal of a 5% duty, to make voice calls and use the internet on their phones.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday issued a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) to this effect, following the passage of the finance bill on Tuesday.
In the parliament on Monday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith announced that duty would be reduced for mobile internet use, even though he had earlier proposed the 5% supplementary duty for both internet use and voice call.
The announcement led to confusion among subscribers on whether the reduced supplementary duty was also applicable for the voice call services. The same day, NBR officials had told the Dhaka Tribune that the duty could not be reduced for mobile internet use alone, as the existing rules did not separate voice calls and mobile internet.