The government has reduced the import duty on dates ahead of the upcoming holy month of Ramadan. Apart from this, the advance tax on this product, which is one of the accompaniments of the fasting Iftar, has also been completely removed. On the instructions of the government, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has issued an order in this regard on Thursday. However, the NBR did not say anything about the unreasonable tariff value of import of dates.
NBR said that the import duty on import of different types of dates has been reduced from 10 percent to 25 to 15 percent. Also, the advance tax levied at the import level has been completely withdrawn. This facility will be effective till March 31 next year in case of import of dates. That is, the importers will get this benefit of duty and advance tax exemption in the case of import of dates till March next year.
Importers said that due to customs duties, the price of imported dates increased abnormally after they arrived in the country. In 2022, the government increased customs duties on various products, including dates, to control imports. 25 percent import duty, 15 percent value added tax (Musak/VAT), 5 percent advance income tax, 5 percent advance tax and 3 percent regulatory duty on the import of dates are 63.60 percent of the total tax.
Earlier, on the occasion of the coming Holy Ramadan on November 14, the Tariff Commission proposed to bring down the tariff value of dates to a reasonable level and reduce the import duty, advance tax. The government organization gives these recommendations that the price of dates is bearable during fasting. The Trade and Tariff Commission has recently prepared a report on the rationalization of customs duties and tariffs on import of dates on the occasion of fasting. This is the recommendation made in that report.
The Tariff Commission opined that the high rate of advance income tax (10 percent) and advance tax (5 percent) on imports is not realistic. The report also mentions that the prices of goods are increasing due to high rate of additional taxes.
The proposal of the Tariff Commission states that, apart from this, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) may instruct the customs stations to levy duty on the basis of the actual exchange value and the latest LC value by the TCB following due process as the existing dutiable value of date palm import by the customs station is flawed by the executive order. If necessary, discussions can be held with relevant business organizations and partners.
Talking to the importers, it is known that open dates are the most imported in the country. Apart from this, expensive dates such as ajwa, maryam, medjul are also imported ahead of fasting. If the import price of the most imported open dates is 61 cents per kg on an average, then the price of 120 rupees per dollar has fallen to 73 rupees. Traders have to pay customs duty of Tk 52 per kg on import of such dates. The import cost increased to 125 Tk. Similarly, the price of other dates also increased due to the duty. It can be seen that the price of dates increases abnormally during fasting. To prevent that from happening this time, the interim government has already taken the initiative to reduce duties and taxes.
It should be noted that fasting will start in the country at the beginning of next March. As such, the importers have started importing dates in view of fasting.
