Domestic ceramic manufacturers have requested the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to completely withdraw the supplementary duty (SD) on locally made ceramic tiles to help them contribute more to the government exchequer.
They said the locally made tiles are no more considered to be luxurious products and therefore the SD on local tiles manufacturing needs complete withdrawal.
The withdrawal of SD can help domestic manufacturers compete with the global market keeping the standard of tiles, the manufacturers said, adding that the duty withdrawal can boost sales of products helping them contribute more to the government exchequer.
Currently, there are 15% Value Added Tax and 15% SD on local manufacturing of tiles.
Bangladesh Ceramic Wares Manufacturers Association (BCWMA) has come up with the demand at a proposal filed before the NBR for upcoming budget for fiscal year 2015-16.
The association president M Sirajul Islam Molla, also a lawmaker, made the demands in the proposal.
The country’s ceramic industry, which has employed around 5lakh workers, has so far invested Tk5,000 crore and witnessed 200% growth in the last five years, according to BCWMA.
Currently, there are over 50 local industries that meet the local demands and export products to many other countries. All these industries are involved mainly in production of tableware, tiles and sanitary ware.
The industry earned Tk400 crore as foreign currency through export, and has witnessed 140% growth in last 10 years, BCWMA said.
The industry contributes around Tk2,000 crore as revenue and different bills to the government exchequer, according to BCWMA.
The association leaders also demanded a proper literature of the Harmonized System (HS) codes to avoid any sort of misleading tax imposition.
They also said the customs duty on essential intermediary raw material, decoration and printing materials should be reduced to 5% from the existing 10% and 25% respectively.
They also said the customs duty on essential machinery and parts like elements should be brought down to 2% from the existing 5%, 10% and 25% on different machinery.
It also asked NBR to completely withdraw the regulatory duty and supplementary duty on these products.
The manufacturers, on the other hand, demanded a rise of supplementary duty on imported tiles, sanitary-ware, and tableware products from existing 60% to 80% and on opal glass tableware and pyrex products from existing 45% to 80% to protect local industry, collect increased revenue, and prevent under-voicing.
They also demanded that the regulatory duty on imported tiles, sanitary ware, table ware, opel glass tableware and pirex-made tableware should be raised to 25% from existing 5%.