Rajib Dey special correspondent: Today’s 09 April 2026 the upcoming national budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year should not be just a revenue-raising strategy but should be business-friendly, supportive and growth-oriented, said Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Kamran T Rahman. At the same time, he proposed introducing a ‘symbolic minimum tax’ of Tk 100 or Tk 1,000 per year to motivate new taxpayers.
He made these demands and proposals at a seminar titled **‘National Budget 2026-27: Private Sector Priorities and Perspectives’ jointly organized by MCCI and Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) at a prestigious hotel in the capital today.
At the seminar, MCCI President Kamran T. Rahman said, “We are currently facing multifaceted challenges like high inflation, foreign exchange pressure and high interest rates. In this situation, the budget should be such that it will give a positive message to investors. We believe that a balanced tax policy will increase revenue on the one hand and will also play a role in creating employment on the other.”
The 6 main proposals raised by the MCCI President are:
1. Fully integrate the NID and TIN databases and introduce a symbolic minimum tax of Tk 100 or Tk 1000 to eliminate tax fear.
2. Launch a unified portal instead of separate portals for income tax, VAT and customs and arrange for online hearings.
3. Reduce the tax rate of listed and unlisted companies by another 2.5 percent and relax strict conditions for cash transactions.
Reconsider the issue of making Proof of Filing of Returns (PSR) mandatory in 39 cases and remove inconsistencies in the Income Tax Act 2023.
To protect business confidentiality in the VAT process, only ‘quantity’ should be mentioned instead of ‘value’ and taxation should be ensured according to the actual ‘transaction value’.
6. Proposal to reduce tax rates, input tax credit and duty on raw materials for the development of small and medium industries.
At the seminar, ERF President Daulat Akhtar Mala emphasized on data transparency or ‘data transparency’. He said, “There may be a revenue deficit of about one lakh crore taka in the current fiscal year. In this situation, it is important to increase the tax coverage without increasing the pressure on existing taxpayers. To restore the trust of taxpayers, we must prevent money laundering and ensure the proper use of collected taxes.”
He also said that although there has been talk of introducing an electronic fiscal device (EFD) for a long time, there has been no visible progress in it, which is questionable. In addition, he commented that the imbalance between direct and indirect taxes is increasing the cost of business.
At the seminar, former NBR Chairman Dr. Mohammad Abdul Majid, former ICAB President Shahadat Hossain, members of MCCI and ERF, and senior representatives of the private sector were present. The speakers agreed that Bangladesh needs to develop a strong and investment-friendly administrative and tax framework on its path to LDC status by 2026.
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