Withdraw VAT, import duty over manmade fibre: BTMA
Textile millers yesterday demanded the withdrawal of value-added tax (VAT) and import duty about all types of manmade fibre for the potential growth of the non-cotton fashion industry to meet up the global demand.
In the proposed budget, the federal government did not address this issue even though the business owners of the country's principal textile sector have been demanding this beforehand, the textile millers explained at a post-budget press conference in the office of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).
The government should think about the request as the require for manmade fibre garments is greater than the cotton-made fibre globally.
For instance, manmade fibre occupies 78 % of the global manner industry and the rest 22 % by cotton fibre.
But in Bangladesh, the scenario is reversed. Of the full total garment export from Bangladesh in a yr, 74 per cent is manufactured out of cotton fibre while 26 % from man-built fibre, they added.
"If you want to pick up more of the global marketplace share, we must opt for the manmade fibre just as the demand is soaring for those garment items," said BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokon.
The BTMA chief welcomed the proposed funds, but he wants some facilities for the textile sector for attracting further investment and for creating more employment.
Khokon also demanded that the federal government fix Tk 3 as VAT on revenue per kilogramme (kg) of all varieties of yarn in the local markets.
Currently, the National Table of Revenue collects Tk 3 as VAT about the sales of per kg of yarn made from cotton and Tk 6 per kg in the sales of yarn made from manmade fibre.
Therefore the VAT rate ought to be uniform for all types of yarn sales, he said.
