Just after the enforcement of the new budget that finally dropped some major fiscal changes, the government issued a raft of statutory regulatory orders (SROs) keeping unchanged almost all the VAT measures for 2017-18.
As per the SROs issued Saturday by the Internal Resource Division (IRD), except tax on cigarettes, bidis and junk foods, all other rates of the value-added tax (VAT) would remain same as in the just-concluded financial year, 2016-17.
The much-demanded truncated-base VAT, tariff-value, package VAT would remain unaltered in the current FY under the latest executive orders.
However, there will be 10 per cent supplementary duty (SD) levied on junk foods at local stage. There was no SD on junk foodstuffs at local stage.
SD slabs on cigarettes and bidis have been kept unchanged as per the budget proposals placed in parliament on June 1, 2017.
The new budget has up-raised price of the lower-slab per 10-stick cigarettes, from the local manufacturers, to Tk 27 from Tk 23, and it is Tk 35 for international tobacco manufacturers.
Over half the tobacco-users consume smokeless tobacco (zarda and gul) but the government kept tax rates unchanged on the products.
Price of non-filtered 25-stick and filtered 20-stick bidi packets has been reduced to Tk 12.5 from the proposed rate of Tk 15.
VAT on import of hospital-decoration equipment, raw material and composite cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been waived.
GP and CI sheets have been included in the tariff value.
Also, 20 per cent SD has been imposed on import of food supplements, 10 per cent SD on bolder and limestone, 20 per cent wooden bits, 60 per cent on work slate and 20 per cent on work glass, 100 per cent on firearms.
doulot_akter@yahoo.com [Read More]

—–
Source: The Financial Express