The government plans to provide special incentives to those involved in the agriculture and export sectors, and businesses that are creating jobs, according to the chairman of the National Board of Revenue.

“The new budget will be more business-oriented and some sectors will be given special incentives as per the advice of the prime minister,” said Md Nojibur Rahman.

He made the remarks at a workshop on income tax and value added tax organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) at its auditorium in the capital. The new VAT law will be implemented from July 1, said Rahman.

“It is a law of high quality and there is scope to provide incentives to businessmen. The new VAT system is mostly online-based,” he added.  He said the revenue authority would introduce a mobile app to facilitate instant VAT payment through mobile phones.  “We are in talks with Grameenphone to introduce a secure channel for the VAT payment through mobile phones.”

The DCCI demanded a cut in the VAT rate to 7 percent from the 15 percent uniform rate planned by the finance minister.

“Lower VAT rate will boost government revenue. The business community will invest more if the VAT rate is reduced,” said Abul Kasem Khan, president of the chamber.

Khan said the plan to install electronic cash register (ECR) at all shops is unrealistic. He suggested using mobile banking for VAT collection as an alternative to ECR.

He said a mobile app can be introduced for VAT collection as all shopkeepers use mobile phones.