Value-added tax (VAT) is not being imposed on Dhaka metro rail tickets just yet, according to Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, the government-owned company responsible for operating the popular mass rapid transit system.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has not made any formal announcement about the imposition of VAT on tickets, and the metro rail authorities on Sunday said it might not be imposed soon.
Currently, VAT on metro rail tickets is waived, and this waiver was supposed to end on Sunday, June 30.
In the proposed budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali did not mention any extension of this VAT waiver. As a result, a 15% VAT on metro rail tickets was supposed to be imposed starting Monday, July 1, the start of the new fiscal year.
Over 40% construction work of metro rail’s Motijheel-Kamalapur section completedDMTCL sources said the organization wrote to the NBR in April requesting the withdrawal of VAT on tickets, but the NBR has not responded to this letter.
Therefore, as of Sunday night, DMTCL had not made any preparations to sell metro rail tickets with added VAT.
MAN Siddique, managing director of DMTCL, told the daily that DMTCL had listed 10-15 reasons why VAT should be withdrawn from metro rail tickets and sent a letter to the NBR through the road transport ministry.
He added that no response to that letter had been received yet, thus DMTCL was not taking any steps to collect fares with added VAT from Monday.
Siddique said he believed that NBR officials had been busy with the budget and that the VAT issue would be resolved soon.
