‘New VAT law to affect real estate sector’

[Reyed Mia (Apprentice, DIU)]

'New VAT law to affect real estate sector'

The Implementation of new VAT law will affect the country's real estate sector, said Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain on Sunday.

"There is no example in any country of the world that people will have to provide 15 per cent VAT in all sectors. If number of tax payers is not increased, problems will not be solved by increasing tax," he said, reports UNB.

The minister came up the remarks while speaking at a roundtable meeting at Dhaka Club in the capital. Centre for Communication Network (CCN) arranged the programme, titled "Accommodation Sector in National Economy".

Mosharraf said some 1.2 million out of 160 million people in the country give tax but the rest are out of the tax network, which cannot be acceptable.

"I think the Ministry of Finance and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) should be tax-friendly more," he said.

State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan was present at the programme. He said the new VAT decision may create problems for temporary period but it will be good in future.

Meanwhile, the government already has a decision to implement the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 from July 1, 2017.

According to the law, all sectors, including apartments, will have to pay 15 per cent VAT.

The National Board of Revenue will implement the new VAT decision from the 2017-18 fiscal year.

While talking about the accommodation, Mosharraf said the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) can provide the facilities of CDA, ADA and RDA in the accommodation sector but the private sector realtors cannot do the same.

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) First Vice President M Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin urged the government to increase the number of tax payers.

Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) President Alamgir Shamsul Alamin (Kajal), Bangladesh Kalyan Party chairman Maj Gen (retd) Syed Muhammad Ibrahim and former NBR chairman Dr Muhammad Abdul Mazid, among others, were present at the programme.

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2017/05/07/69534/%E2%80%98New-VAT-law-to-affect-real-estate-sector%E2%80%99