Proceedings of the AABEA Biennial Convention, October 12th, 2002, Washington DC, USA

Review of the Tax System in Bangladesh A Prerequisite for Industrial Growth
T. A. M. Nurul Basher*
E-mail: nurul-basher@betelco.com

Abstract - This paper has been written to highlight the sustainable industrial growth problems being faced by the entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. There are multifarious problems for Industrial growth in Bangladesh but the major bottleneck is the adverse tax system. There exists no consideration for industrial raw materials import in so far as application of duties and taxes compared to those of finished consumer goods. The net result is increase in production cost which in turn makes the product noncompetitive. So as not to create an extra burden on industrial productions, the government needs to remove duties and taxes from imported raw materials as in many Middle Eastern countries and Thailand. The government implicitly accepts the adverse effects of the improper taxes on our industrial growth and has tried partially to alleviate some of these impediments by creating Export Processing Zones and Bonded Ware Houses; this paper explores the benefits doing away with these high import duties altogether. It also looks at the paybacks to the economy from industrial growth. Finally, the expansion of the income tax umbrella is considered and in particular its effects on growing a greater sense of national civic duty and its impact on the voting patterns of the electorate. [1]

to this, the average per-capita income of developed countries range around or exceed US$ 26,000 per year. While it is unthinkable to raise the income of a Bangladeshi to a level comparable to those of people in developed nations, one should make continued efforts towards attaining a minimum level of life sustenance that could be termed as economic solvency. Bangladesh covers an