The country’s poultry sector has urged the government to continue with the tax exemption on the income from the sector till June 2025 to help cover up the losses the sector suffered during the political turmoil ahead of January 5 national election.
Entrepreneurs claimed the sector had incurred losses of over Tk4,000 crore during the period when many of the farms faced shut down and the existing ones were struggling with huge amount of loans.
So, continuation of the tax exemption is a must to help survive the industry, they said.
The current deadline for tax exemption for the poultry sector will expire in June next year.
“The sector needs to enjoy the tax exemption till June 2025 for encouraging new investors as well as supporting the existing ones, who are passing through tough times now,” said Debashish Nag, adviser to the Feed Industries Association of Bangladesh.
Industry insiders said all the sub-sectors of the poultry industry including breeders, feed manufacturers and egg producers have incurred huge losses due to continuous blockades and shutdowns and many of the investors lost their capital and struggling with bank loans.
Investors are not coming into the sector while 30% of the firms wrapped up business due to the losses, they added.
To minimise the losses, sector leaders urged the National Board of Revenue not to impose minimum tax at the rate of 0.5% of the total gross receipts by the poultry firms.
“We strongly urge NBR not to impose section 16CCC of the income tax ordinance on the poultry sector to support the investors who suffered huge loss,” Nag added.
The sector leaders also added that the raw materials for poultry feed needs to be included with the list of tax-free imports.
The other demands includes withdrawal of 5% advance income tax on import of maize as it is a must element for preparing poultry feed.
