Local jute exporters have sought reduction of advance income tax (AIT) on their export bills.
Bangladesh Jute Goods Exporters Association (BJGEA) last month requested the Commerce Ministry to take necessary steps in this regard.
Currently, the government has imposed 1% AIT on export bills of jute goods.
Earlier, it was 0.50% and they sought the AIT cut to the earlier 0.5%.
The government imposed 2% tax at source on purchasing raw jute.
Again, it is considering imposing tax at source on export purchase orders.
If imposed, the tax would not only hamper the sector's growth but also the sector would be close to ruin, a source said.
They feared that the prices of jute products would increase in the international market and the export of jute goods would decline, said the association in a letter.
They requested the government to include the name of BJGEA members in the export registration form (EXP form).
According to a central bank circular, jute yarn, hessian and diversified jute goods exporters get 7%, 12% and 20% cash incentives respectively.
India, Pakistan and China are the major importers of Bangladeshi raw jute.
Bangladesh exports 600,000-800,000 bales of raw jute each year.
The country earned Tk659 crore from raw jute export in FY22.
About 7-8 million bales of raw jute are locally produced every year.