Shawdesh desk:

The finance bill 2023 was passed in the parliament on Sunday with a number of changes, including dropping the planned imposition of Tk 2,000 as the minimum tax for filing returns of the taxpayer’s identification number amid widespread criticisms.

Extra duties proposed by finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal while presenting the finance bill 2023 on June 1 were withdrawn before the bill was passed following amendment proposals submitted by members of the Jatiya Party.

Besides, a 5 per cent increase in the salaries of the government employees will be included in the fiscal measures for FY24 on a suggestion made by prime minister Sheikh Hasina while taking part in the budget discussion.

Other proposed original fiscal measures, including increasing the income tax threshold to Tk 3.5 lakh from Tk 3 lakh and fixing 27.5 per cent corporate tax rate, have been kept unchanged.

The finance minister had proposed a minimum tax of Tk 2,000 on TIN holders, cancelling the provision of declaring zero tax with the submission of TIN returns.

The move had been targeted to expand the tax base as about 8 lakh TIN holders declared zero income tax in their returns in recent years. But such measure was critiscised heavily.

Accepting the amendment proposals, the finance minister said that he was facing difficulties to formulate economic policies due to a volatile situation in the world economy.

The predicted global economic growth has been reduced, he said while encountering concerns expressed over the GDP growth target and revenue targets by JP members.

The projected growth in the gross domestic product has been fixed at 7.5 per cent for FY24, the year that would include the next general election.

There was no amendment proposal made in the projected 6 per cent inflation for FY24  and thus the proposal remains while the projected increase in private sector investment by almost 4 percentage points for the final year of the present regime’s five-year tenure also exists .

The finance minister also said that the county’s economy was doing well compared to many other countries amid the volatile global economic situation.

A series of new measures have been announced to achieve the revenue generation target of Tk 4.3 lakh crore by the National Board of Revenue in line with conditions under the $4.7 billion loan programme from the International Monetary Fund.

An allocation of Tk 1.2 lakh crore for the social security programme and close to Tk 1.0 lakh crore for interest payments will be needed within the overall expenditure target of Tk 7.61 lakh crore.

About Tk 34,819 crore will be needed for the country’s struggling power and energy sector, including a large subsidy for the private power producers, while Tk 18,200 crore will be required for the agriculture sector.

The FY24 development budget is worth Tk 2.63 lakh crore.

Of the ADP outlay, about Tk 1.69 lakh core will come from local sources and the remaining Tk 0.91 lakh crore from overseas lenders as project loans.

About Tk 29,104 crore, as special budget assistance from overseas sources, will be taken while the FY23 figure was Tk 23,296 crore.

The budget for 2023–24 will be passed today in the parliament.