The government has taken the initiative of major structural changes in taxing the rich.
It has been planned to introduce 'wealth tax' in the budget for the upcoming FY27 by abolishing the conventional surcharge system.
At the same time, initiatives are being taken to use market-based or mouza prices instead of deed prices to determine the value of land and immovable assets.
According to relevant sources, the main goal of this initiative is to bring the wealthy people living in the elite areas of the capital's Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi, Baridhara and other divisional cities under the tax and to increase revenue collection.
To this end, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has already prepared a draft of the 'Wealth Tax Act'.
If it gets the approval of the government's high-level, it can be included in the upcoming budget.
Currently, if the taxpayer has assets exceeding the limit specified in the Income Tax Act, he has to pay a surcharge at a certain rate on the income tax payable.
For example, if the wealth is between Tk4 crore and Tk10 crore, a surcharge of 10% is applicable, 20% for Tk10 crore to Tk20 crore, 30% for Tk20 crore to Tk50 crore and 35% for wealth above Tk50 crore.
However, this surcharge is calculated on income tax, not directly on wealth.
The new proposed system is bringing a major change in the method of calculating taxes.
Direct tax will be imposed on wealth at a fixed rate.
According to the initial draft, a 'wealth tax' of 0.50% will be imposed on wealth between Tk4 crore and Tk10 crore, 1% for Tk10 crore to Tk20 crore, 1.50% for Tk20 crore to Tk50 crore and 2% for wealth above Tk50 crore.
However, an important condition is being kept - the wealth tax of any taxpayer will not be more than his income tax payable.
Tax officials said that this will establish fairness in the tax system and ensure more revenue collection from high income as well as high asset owners.
At the same time, the tax structure will be simplified if the surcharge system is abolished.
The new system is expected to significantly increase the tax coverage by using the local value in determining the value of assets.
Currently, many high-value assets are being left out of the tax based on the deed value.
For example, the current market value of land in Gulshan, which was bought at a low price in the 1990s, is several crores of taka, but this is not reflected in the existing system.
Under the new rules, such assets will come under the tax. According to NBR data, Tk296 crore has been collected from surcharge till February of the current fiscal year.
In FY23, more than 50,000 taxpayers paid about Tk696 crore as surcharge.
Those concerned believe that if the property tax is implemented effectively, it is possible to collect more than Tk10,000 crore in revenue annually.
