The government has reduced the supplementary duty on imports of various fresh fruits, including apples, grapes, pears, oranges and malta. Supplementary duty on these imports has been exempted beyond 25 per cent, and fruit prices in the market are expected to fall as a result.

Earlier, on 12 March, the government cut the advance tax on these fruit imports by 5 per cent. On Monday (17 March) the National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued an order on the matter, to take effect immediately. The order says importers will get the supplementary duty benefit until 30 June.

The order, signed by NBR chairman Md Abdur Rahman, says that under the powers of sub-section (1) of section 126 of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012 (Act No 47 of 2012), the government has exempted supplementary duty in excess of 25 per cent on the following goods listed in the first schedule of the Customs Act, 2023 (Act No 57 of 2023).

The supplementary duty has been cut on fresh or dried oranges, fresh or dried citrus fruit, fresh or dried grapes, fresh or dried lemons, and fresh apples and pears.

Earlier, on 9 January, the supplementary duty on imported fruit was raised from 20 to 30 per cent, pushing up the price of imported fruit in the market.

Fruit imports currently carry 25 per cent customs duty, 20 per cent regulatory duty, 30 per cent supplementary duty, 5 per cent advance income tax, 15 per cent VAT and 5 per cent advance tax.

People in the trade say virtually every kind of duty and tax is levied on fruit. The total tax incidence had been 136 per cent, meaning Tk 136 in tax on Tk 100 worth of imported fruit. The cut in advance tax will now ease the burden somewhat, which may bring fruit prices down a little.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.