FY23 budget: products to pay more and less for

Prices of some products are set to rise while some others will see a decline with changes in taxes proposed in the budget for the fiscal year 2022-23.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal revealed the plan during his budget speech in parliament on Thursday.

PRODUCTS THAT MAY GET CHEAPER

· Sugar and puffed rice: VAT exemption at the trading stage for sugar and puffed rice.

· Wheat gluten: cut in import duty on the product from 25 percent to 15 percent in order to reduce the cost of production in the livestock industry and ensure the supply of protein at low a cost.

· Mobile phone batteries, chargers and interactive displays: VAT exemption at manufacturing stage for mobile phone batteries, chargers and interactive displays for the development of the local information technology and computer industry.

· Power tiller: VAT exemption at manufacturing and trading stage for power tiller.

· Braille: VAT exemption on braille printing materials for visually impaired people.

· Air-zinc battery for hearing aid: reduction of applicable duty on air-zinc battery used in the special device for hearing impaired people.

· Specialised wheelchairs: no tariffs on imports of specialised wheelchairs for the physically challenged people.

· Cashew nuts: in order to develop the cashew nut processing industry in the country and to create a new export sector, it has been proposed to reduce the tariff on import of raw cashew nuts.

· Polythene bags: withdrawal of 5 percent supplementary duty on all types of polythene bags, plastic bags (including oven plastic bags) and wrapping materials made of polyethylene.

PRODUCTS THAT MAY GET COSTLIER

· Mobile phone sets: withdrawal of the existing 5 percent VAT exemption at the trading stage of mobile phone sets.

· COVID-19 equipment: withdrawal of VAT exemption at manufacturing and trading stage of COVID-19 test kit, PPE, protective garments, plastic face shields, medical protective gear, protective spectacles, and goggles for medical use and mask.

· GI fittings: 20 percent supplementary duty on imported GI fittings to ensure protection of domestic industry.

· Cheese: 20 percent supplementary duty on import of cheese.

· Wire: Since different types of wires are almost homogeneous, it is difficult during assessment to distinguish between them. Therefore, to bring parity, it has been proposed to increase the existing import duty on the import of both the products from 5 percent to 10 percent.

· Motorcycles: 100 percent supplementary duty in case of import of four stroke and 250 percent supplementary duty in case of import of two stroke motorcycles with engine capacity above 250 cc.

· Electric motor: There is 10 percent import duty on electric motors up to 750 watts. Such motors are now being produced in the country. It has been proposed to increase the import duty from 10 percent to 15 percent for electric motors up to 750 watts to protect the local industry.

· Gas lighter: In order to protect the domestic industry, a proposal has been made to impose 10 percent supplementary duty on the import of gas lighters. Similarly, it has been proposed to increase the import duty on parts of lighter from 10 percent to 25 percent.

· Solar panel: At present, zero percent import duty is applicable on solar panel imports. In view of the application of the domestic solar sector, it has been proposed to increase the existing import duty on imported solar panels from 0 percent to 1 percent.
· Cellular phone battery charger: proposal to increase the import duty on cellular phone battery charger from 15 percent to 25 percent in order to further develop the domestic cellular phone manufacturing industry.

· Concrete ready mix: proposal to withdraw the existing VAT exemption at the stage of production of concrete ready mix.

· Printing ink: proposal has been made to increase the concessional rate of finished printing ink to 15 percent instead of 10 percent.

· Printers and toner cartridges: To promote ‘Made in Bangladesh’ branding worldwide and to protect the investment of domestic manufacturing industries, a proposal has been made to withdraw the concessions on import of printers and toner cartridges.

· Laptops: proposal to impose 15 percent VAT on laptop computer imports. As a result, the total tax incidence of the product will be 31 percent.

· Birds: Since birds are luxurious, it has been proposed to increase the import duty from 5 percent to 25 percent on those.