In a parliamentary session, the Editor of Business Eye and Jatiya Press Club President Farida Yasmin, MP, on Wednesday said that increasing the tax net is a fundamental issue for attaining ‘A prosperous and Smart Bangladesh.
“Despite making concerted efforts and policies, we are still lagging in increasing the contribution of direct tax to the GDP which is hampering the development of the country”, Farida Yasmin added.
Farida Yasmin has underscored the need for increasing the existing tax net. “The direct Tax-GDP ratio should be at least 3% from the existing 1% to the gross domestic product (GDP).
We must ensure that all taxable income slabs pay their taxes regularly. Taxpayer numbers should be increased and tax exemption would need to be removed”, she also said.
However, tax policy would need to be friendly so that it encourages taxpayers to pay taxes.
The Editor of Business Eye Farida Yasmin told this during the question-answer session on Wednesday.
Lauding the role of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Farida Yasmin said that the premier sets a series of long-term goals for the country to ensure more prosperity alongside some short-term strategies like the five-year plans.
“One of her (PM) master plans for the people of Bangladesh is the Vision 2041, continuation of the construction of Digital Bangladesh that seeks to take the nation to the development highway dreamt by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It was introduced first in 2020 to be undertaken between 2022 and 2041, she added.
She called for increasing budget for the education sector and ICT sector as well as stepping against defaulting educational institutions in order to ensure the standard of education.
She also demanded more budget allocation for these productive sectors.
Farida Yasmin said if the government gives transports MPs like another public representatives then no need to give any exemption for MPs.
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