Debapriya slams 'inconsiderate' VAT hike by interim govt

Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, who led the committee that prepared the White Paper on the state of Bangladesh's economy, on Saturday strongly criticised the interim government for increasing value-added tax (VAT) ‘inconsiderately’.

“We are astonished to see how inconsiderately the value-added tax was increased,” he said while delivering his introductory speech at a symposium titled ‘White Paper and Thereafter: Economic Management, Reforms, and National Budget’ at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC).

The distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) stated that in any country, if the government aims to collect taxes effectively, it should gradually focus on direct taxes.

“We did not see any plan to collect direct taxes,” he noted.

Debapriya, who is also the convener of the Citizen's Platform for SDGs, pointed out that no strategy has been proposed for individuals with Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) who fail to pay taxes.

“That means you go first towards the indirect tax keeping aside the direct tax. This has made us concerned,” he added.