After three fiscal years, the finance minister has proposed to increase excise duties for large banks deposits in the upcoming fiscal.

People with bank deposits over Tk50 lakh have to pay more to the government as excise duty compared to previous fiscals, according to the budget proposed by Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in parliament on Thursday.

Currently, there is no excise duty on bank accounts up to Tk1 lakh.

Depositors have to pay Tk150 excise duty for accounts with Tk1 lakh to Tk5 lakh, and Tk500 for accounts holding Tk5 lakh to Tk10 lakh. There will be no change in these two levels.

Currently, Tk3,000 is deducted as excise duty on balances above Tk10 lakh to Tk1 crore. This range may be split into two: maintaining the same duty for balances above Tk10 lakh to Tk50 lakh initially, and potentially increasing to Tk5,000 for balances above Tk50 lakh to Tk1 crore.

At present, an excise duty of Tk15,000 applies to bank balances above Tk1 crore to Tk5 crore. This range may also be divided into two parts.

The duty could rise to Tk20,000 for account holders with balances above Tk2 crore to Tk5 crore, while the excise for balances from Tk1 crore to Tk2 crore can be Tk10,000.

The existing excise duty of Tk50,000 on balances above Tk5 crore may remain unchanged.

Every year between January and December if the amount of deposits in any bank reaches the limit of Tk1 lakh or above, then the excise duty is to be paid at the specified rate. Even if it touches the limit multiple times, excise duty is deducted only once. Offshore bank deposits exempted from excise duty

Depositors who park funds in the offshore banking units of their banks will enjoy exemption from excise duty on foreign currency deposits in the coming FY25.

The government has offered the benefit as banks in the country are working to attract foreign currency holders, particularly non-resident Bangladeshis, to make deposits in their offshore banking units (OBUs).

The development comes after the Bangladesh Bank relaxed the rules and allowed banks to receive funds from OBUs amounting to 40% of their regulatory capital to settle payment obligations.