Bangladesh garment manufacturers want the present corporate tax rates unchanged.
They also the value-added tax on all exports and a 0.2 per cent stamp duty for the export-oriented garment sector to be waived.

There is a proposal to hike the corporate tax on non-green garment factories by three percentage points, taking it to 15 per cent, and that on green factories certified by agencies such as the US Green Building Council from ten per cent to 12 per cent.

A new 12.5 per cent corporate tax for garment factories listed on the stock market has also been introduced.

There is a proposal to increase VAT on the fashion and loom industry from one per cent to five per cent. Exporters say if this is done, the sector will be in big trouble, and if the sector does not grow, foreign products will dominate the local market. They add that increasing VAT now would put pressure on customers ahead of the buying spree for Id.

The aim of these taxes is to increase revenue collection by 33 per cent in the next fiscal year. Exporters wonder how this could happen since the previous targets of 14 per cent and 17 per cent in the last couple of years could not be attained.