Apparel exporters in Bangladesh have to pay one per cent tax at source in the 2018-19 fiscal, instead of the current 0.7 per cent.
Last financial year the source tax was lowered to 0.7 per cent from one per cent.

The existing SRO would expire on June 30 this year.

The source tax collected from export proceeds of garments is roughly the revenue collected as income tax from the apparel sector.

Tax on export proceeds for other sectors will also be retained at one per cent in the next national budget due to the same reason.

Among other proposals the corporate tax rate will be increased for manufacturers and exporters of readymade garments to 15 per cent from the existing 12 per cent. Also the tax rate for green building certificate holding apparel companies will be fixed at 12 per cent from the existing ten per cent. The corporate tax rate for public limited garment companies will be 12.5 per cent.

Exporters suggest a tax of 0.50 per cent only on cutting and making instead of a source tax on export proceeds.

The garment industry is the country's main export earner. It is looking to hit 50 billion dollars in shipments by 2021.