DHAKA, Sept 29, 2022 (BSS) – The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI), in partnership with Taxes Zone 15, Dhaka, organized a discussion meeting yesterday on payment of taxes at its Motijheel office in the capital.

The title of the meeting was “Payment of Taxes, Filing of Returns and Compliance with Provisions of Deduction of Tax at Source: Changes Brought by the Finance Act, 2022”.

Md. Saiful Islam, president, MCCI, chaired the meeting.

 AKM Hasanuzzaman, tax commissioner, Taxes Zone-15 under the National Board of Revenue (NBR), graced the event as the chief guest. Additional, joint, and deputy tax commissioners and other senior officials of the NBR, members of the Board of Directors of MCCI, and representatives from the business community took part in the meeting.

The objectives of this meeting were to help everyone understand the importance of the relevant issues of Finance Act, 2022, the accurate filing of income tax returns, the compliance with the rules of deduction of tax at source, and also showing the use of the electronic tax deducted at source (eTDS) system, said a press release.

Bangladesh has one of the lowest tax-GDP ratios in the world. The speakers said as the country advances towards achieving the coveted ‘developing country’ and ultimately ‘developed country’ status in the future, it has to shift away from the current dependence on indirect taxes and instead focus on direct taxes for revenue generation.

In his welcome speech, the MCCI President said that the global economy was going through challenging times of late, first because of the pandemic, and later, the Russia-Ukraine war. The Finance Act, 2022, took all such global challenges into consideration.

He praised the NBR for taking MCCI’s suggestion of updating the tax system and working effortlessly towards it. Implementing online and automation systems could save cost and time for businesses, he believed.

The MCCI President also expressed his hope for NBR’s cooperation and support in the Chamber’s pursuit of extending the validity period of trade and other business related licenses to three to five years from the current one year.

Wakil Ahmed, joint commissioner of taxes, Taxes Zone-15, Dhaka gave two presentations. The first was on the changes brought in the Income Tax Act through the Budget and Finance Act, 2022, while the second was on tax deducted at source.

Ariful Haque, deputy tax commissioner, NBR, elaborated on the eTDS system.

MCCI’s immediate past President Nihad Kabir discussed issues related to the certificates of advance income tax and income tax return submission.

Besides, representatives from Picard Bangladesh Limited, British American Tobacco Bangladesh Limited, HSBC, Bayer Crop Science Ltd., Transcom Limited, KAFCO, MetLife, NCC Bank, Chaldal.com, etc., actively took part in the discussion.

Speaking on the occasion, tax commissioner Hasanuzzaman said the private sector and the NBR needed to trust and support each other and embrace the eTDS system, as it would mean the betterment of the society.

Finally, he emphasized on the role of tax deducted at source, sector-wise tax deposit, and the capacity of the NBR.

Both MCCI and the NBR assured of working together for the economic development of the country. The event ended with a vote of thanks from the MCCI senior vice president Kamran T. Rahman.