Dhaka: The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has exempted value added tax (VAT) on several essentials to keep commodity prices stable during the holy month of Ramadan. To this end, the revenue authority today issued an order.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the order specifies that VAT exemptions will remain on rapeseed oil, colza seed oil, and canola oil at the production stage until June 30. The order also includes a VAT exemption on mustard oil at the production stage, though no specific deadline has been stipulated for this exemption.
Additionally, VAT has been exempted at the business stage for domestically produced items such as biscuits, salt, flour, semolina, ground chili, coriander, turmeric, ginger, rice bran oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, colza seed oil, canola oil, and pulses or pulse-based food grains.
Under specific conditions, the VAT waiver also applies to LPG and natural gas at the business stage. However, importers and those who sell directly to consumers will not be eligible for the VAT exemption.
To avail of the VAT exemption on these products, certain conditions must be met, which include VAT registration, issuance of invoices, maintenance of all types of registers, and submission of monthly VAT returns.