The government has awarded 73 exporters with the National Export Trophy for their outstanding performance in the country's export earnings in the fiscal year 2020-21.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi handed over the trophies at a programme jointly organised by the Commerce Ministry and the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city, reports BSS.

Senior Secretary of the Commerce Ministry Tapan Kanti Ghosh presided over the function while Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Mahbubul Alam and EPB Vice Chairman AHM Ahsan, among others, spoke on the occasion.

In his speech, Tipu expressed his hope to increase Bangladesh's export to US$100 billion by 2030.

For this, he also hoped that other potential products such as IT, plastics, leather products, light engineering sector traders will come forward.

The awards were presented in 32 categories to 73 businesses. Of them, 28 were in gold category, 25 silver and 19 bronze.

As the highest foreign currency earner, Rifat Garments Ltd has been awarded with the "Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Export Trophy".

Snowtex Outerwear Ltd bagged the gold trophy in the readymade garment (woven) category while AKM Knitwear Ltd and Tarasima Apparels Ltd received silver and bronze medals respectively.

Besides, Flamingo Fashions Limited and GMS Composite Knitting Industries secured the gold and silver medals respectively in the Knitwear category while Liberty Knitwear Limited received the bronze medal.

In the yarn category, Badsha Textile Limited received the gold medal, while Square Textiles Ltd and NZ Textiles Ltd received the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Ha-Meem Denim Ltd bagged the gold medal in the textile fabrics category, while Envoy Textiles Ltd and Akij Textiles Ltd received silver and bronze medals respectively.

Universal Jeans Ltd received the gold medal from the garment sector (knit and oven) under Export Processing Zone (EPZ) with 100% Bangladesh ownership ("C" category) while Pacific Jeans Ltd and N H T Fashion Ltd received the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Zaber and Zubair Fabrics Limited and Momtex bagged gold and silver medals respectively in the home and specialised textile category.

Like the previous year, Noman Terry Towel Mills Limited Company received the gold medal in the Terry Towel category.

Besides, Akij Jute Mills Ltd was selected for the gold medal in the jute products category, while Janata Jute Mills Ltd and Jobaida Karim Jute Spinners Ltd for silver and bronze medals respectively.

In the leather goods category, Picard Bangladesh Ltd and ABC Footwear Industries Ltd were selected for the gold and silver medals respectively.

In the handicraft category, Karupannya Rangpur Ltd will receive the gold medal, while BD Creation and Classical Handmade Products BD were selected for silver and bronze medals respectively for the second consecutive time.

Energypac Engineering Limited was selected for the gold medal in the electric and electronics products category, while Walton Hi-Tech Industries Ltd and BRB Cable Industries Ltd for silver and bronze medals respectively.

MSH

Companies and organisations will be required to file tax returns on the income generated by employee welfare funds from the current fiscal year and pay a 27.5 percent tax on the earnings. 

The Income Tax Act 2023 incorporates the provision, lifting the tax exemption and amnesty on the compulsion to file returns for funds such as provident funds, gratuity funds and workers' profit participation funds maintained by the private sector.

The law, however, has exempted government-managed provident funds from taxation, raising questions.

TIM Nurul Kabir, executive director of the Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said there were many other avenues to collect tax.

"Employees benefit from provident funds after their retirement. So, the authority should not slap taxes on retirement benefit."

He said while levying the tax, the government has not treated provident funds of the private and public sectors equally.

"It is discriminatory," he said, adding that they would appeal to the tax authority for the withdrawal of the tax on income from provident funds.

Debabrata Roy Chowdhury, director for legal, regulatory and corporate affairs at Nestlé Bangladesh PLC, said the introduction of income tax on trust funds would lower the overall income from such schemes.

"This will have an adverse long-term impact on retired employees of private organisations."

Chowdhury urged the authority to address the issue in line with the spirit of the government's initiatives aimed at ensuring social security for private sector employees.

"The recent introduction of the universal pension scheme for private sector employees is a good example of that."

A senior official of the NBR, on condition of anonymity, said the income of government-managed provident funds was exempted in line with the Provident Fund Act 1925.

He said provident funds under the private sector had been historically exempted and there was no requirement to submit tax returns. As a result, it was unclear whether the funds were properly utilised.

"From now onwards, we will see proper disclosure."

The tax official said the contribution of payroll tax is about 3 percent of the total income tax although it should increase as the economy is growing.

Md Shahadat Hossain, a former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh, said income from investment in savings certificates, where people invest as a source of future earnings, is already taxed.

"From that perspective, the imposition of tax on provident and other employee welfare funds seems okay."

However, Towfiqul Islam Khan, senior research fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said social protection for private sector employees was low.

"Provident and other workers' welfare-related funds provide little social protection. The imposition of tax will increase inequality. But there can't be any discrimination in taxation between private and government provident funds."

Khan, citing the latest income tax law that replaced the Income Tax Ordinance 1984, said the NBR tried to find new avenues to increase tax collection and improve the nation's revenue-gross domestic product ratio, which is one of the lowest in the world.

"We can see the desperation of the tax authority to boost collection. This ultimately reveals the inability of the NBR to catch the tax evaders and illicit money makers."