Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury moved the bill for passage in the National Assembly session on Monday (June 29), and it was passed by voice vote. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram presided over the session.
Earlier, in response to a proposal made by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman during the budget discussion, the Finance Minister brought amendments to several proposals in the national budget. Among them, the tax-free income limit of individual taxpayers has been increased for the next five fiscal years.
According to the revised proposal, the tax-free income limit has been set at Tk 4 lakh in the fiscal years 2026-27 and 2027-28, Tk 4 lakh 50 thousand in the fiscal years 2028-29 and 2029-30, and Tk 5 lakh in the fiscal year 2030-31.
Before the amendment, the proposed budget proposed setting tax-free income limits of Tk 375,000, Tk 400,000, and Tk 450,000, respectively.
In the budget discussion, Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said that the proposal regarding disclosure of investment information has also been withdrawn, as it created confusion and concern in the public mind. In fact, this proposal was brought to protect taxpayers from complications as many lands are registered at mouza prices instead of actual market prices. However, the government has decided to withdraw it out of respect for public opinion.
Two other proposals have been withdrawn due to confusion among the public. These are: making TIN certificates mandatory for opening most bank accounts and TIN certificates mandatory for registering partition deeds and name changes.
The Finance Minister proposed reducing the income tax rate for private universities from the existing 10 percent to 5 percent.
He proposed to further expand the existing tax benefits for the three hill districts and the small ethnic groups in the plains. As a result, income from business, agriculture and other economic activities as well as salary-based income will be tax-free. To support the shrimp sector, he proposed to withdraw customs duties, regulatory duties, supplementary duties and VAT on imported shrimp feed, probiotics, vitamins, minerals, other necessary materials and related equipment. In addition to increasing customs benefits on the import of raw materials for domestic industries, he also proposed to completely withdraw the existing 10 percent supplementary duty on imported honey used in pharmaceuticals and other manufacturing industries.