Ruling out any misunderstanding between the government and businesses, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said that the new VAT law will go into effect from the first day of the next fiscal.
His remarks came while briefing the media at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) after a meeting with leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI).
“I think now there is no distance between the government and the FBCCI, as all of those gaps have been minimised. We’re now looking forward to implement this VAT law from the first of July,” he said.
The minister, however, said there had been sort of misunderstanding with the FBCCI that they earlier demanded of the government to review the final draft of the law before passing it in parliament.
But, there is some technical difficulty as there is no such provision in the law to discuss over the final draft of the law until it is passed in parliament, Kamal said.
“If we don’t have the cooperation from the business community, then the entire exercise will be frustrated. For this, we seek their cooperation in a bigger way,” he added.
“If we don’t have the cooperation from the business community, then the entire exercise will be frustrated. For this, we seek their cooperation in a bigger way,” he added.
Kamal said that the FBCCI and the business community have now assured him that they do not have any objection now over the law as all of their demands have been incorporated.
He said after getting a start, the full implementation of the VAT law would continue to take place as newer items will come every now and then.
“It might take a pretty long time to fully implement it……VAT is now in place in a limited scale, but we want to operationalise it in a more transparent, organized and hassle free way so that no taxpayer gets hurt as well as the government gets VAT properly. We want to get VAT through a win-win situation and we’re working to create that equilibrium, “he added.
Responding to a query, Kamal said that the proposed three-tier VAT rates would remain same in the new law.