National funds - Government to inflict 25 Percent Tax on movable Phone

In pre-budget talks people were expecting government to sacrifice tax on movable phone Sim to reignite the already struggling telecom operators. Telcos also urged government to sacrifice tax as they subsidized the estimate to supply Sim for less. As a result, news spread that the government is likely to sacrifice tax on Sim card from Tk 800 to Tk 500. What a shame, it didn't happen!! More over movable phones will be costlier if Finance clergyman A M A Muhith's proposal for a 25 percent duty on their value is passed in parliament. He told this while placing the National budget of 2009-2010.

"I suggest to enforce 25% customs duty on movable phone sets on an ad valorem basis instead of existing specific duty of Tk. 300/set applied irrespective of capability and waive all existing Vat, supplementary duty and Ait. This would entail higher duty on high priced sets and lower duty on low priced sets." he said. That means, you have to pay at least 25% more to buy new models of movable phone with high configurations like 3G, mega pixel camera & compatible with other facilities. High profile handsets will be out of reach to base people. This may cause a great blow to movable phone industry.

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Already people don't want to buy handset even with warranty due to their high cost as the same one can be found for less. Thousands of movable phones cross through the border daily without paying duty to government. Those illegal handsets are all colse to the place and anything can have those without any problem. At the same time, low price Chinese handsets are also available. If this extra Tax is imposed, I don't think anything can survive by importing legal handsets.

The finance clergyman also sought to lift Vat on Internet services in all educational institutions. "I suggest to keep this aid within the reach of students and also to signify our commitment towards Digital Bangladesh," A M A Muhith said in his budget speech. This can be great news for universities, schools & colleges. But government has to make sure that no one takes advantage of this. Because there is always a opportunity of Isp associated with those institutions, use their name to fly tax.

National funds - Government to inflict 25 Percent Tax on movable Phone

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