Finance Bill Passed: Tax-free income limit of Tk 4 lakh, TIN not required to open bank accounts

The National Assembly has passed the Finance Bill-2026 with several important amendments. Notable among the amendments are the increase in the tax-free income limit for individual taxpayers and the withdrawal of the proposed provision for disclosure of investment information. Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury presented the bill for passage in the National Assembly session on Monday (June 29) and it was passed by voice vote. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram presided over the session.
Earlier, in the wake of the proposal made by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman during the budget discussion, the Finance Minister brought amendments to several proposals in the national budget. Among them, the tax-free income limit of individual taxpayers has been increased for the next five fiscal years.
According to the revised proposal, the tax-free income limit has been set at Tk 4 lakh in the fiscal years 2026-27 and 2027-28, Tk 4 lakh 50 thousand in the fiscal years 2028-29 and 2029-30 and Tk 5 lakh in the fiscal year 2030-31. Before the revision, the proposed budget proposed to set the tax-free income limit at Tk 3 lakh 75 thousand, Tk 4 lakh and Tk 4 lakh 50 thousand respectively.
In the budget discussion, Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said that the proposal regarding disclosure of investment information has also been withdrawn, as it created confusion and concern in the public mind. In fact, this proposal was brought to protect taxpayers from complications as many lands are registered at mouza value instead of actual market value. However, respecting public opinion, the government has decided to withdraw it.
Two more proposals have been withdrawn due to confusion among the public. These are: making TIN certificate mandatory for opening most bank accounts and making TIN certificate mandatory for registering partition deeds and mutation. The Finance Minister has proposed to reduce the income tax rate of private universities from the current 10 percent to 5 percent.
He has proposed to further expand the existing tax benefits for the three hill districts and the small ethnic groups in the plains. This will make income from business, agriculture and other economic activities as well as salary-based income tax-free. To support the shrimp sector, he has proposed to withdraw customs duty, regulatory duty, supplementary duty and VAT on imported shrimp feed, probiotics, vitamins, minerals, other essential ingredients and related equipment. In addition to increasing customs duty on imports of raw materials for domestic industries, he has also proposed to completely withdraw the existing 10 percent supplementary duty on imported honey used in pharmaceutical and other manufacturing industries.
It has been proposed to reduce the import duty on PVC and PET resins, which are widely used in the industry, from the proposed 10 percent to 5 percent. In addition, it has been proposed to withdraw the proposed restrictive duty on cold-rolled sheets used in the manufacture of fire-resistant doors, coated chromium oxide used in flat steel products and refined copper wire used in the production of electrical wires. The Finance Minister has also proposed to abolish the proposed 15 percent VAT and advance tax on imported fire-resistant bricks.
It has been proposed to reduce the import duty on raw cashew nuts imported as raw material for the domestic cashew nut processing industry from 15 percent to 5 percent. In addition, it has been proposed to extend the existing duty exemption on the import of locally produced LED lamps and raw materials for the construction of prefabricated buildings till June 30, 2030.
To encourage the use of formal payment methods in digital advertising, the Finance Minister has proposed to reduce the existing 15 percent VAT on advertisements on social media, OTT platforms, search engines, online marketplaces and other digital media to 5 percent. He expressed hope that this would reduce informal payments abroad and increase tax compliance. In addition, it has been proposed to set a VAT of Tk 2,500 on gold, platinum and diamond jewellery and Tk 100 on silver jewellery.
It has also been proposed to exempt 15 percent VAT on revenue sharing agreements with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and full VAT exemption on all types of fish supplies at the supplier level. To encourage the domestic motor vehicle industry, it has been proposed to reduce VAT on locally manufactured double cabin pickups and microbuses from 15 percent to 5 percent. It has also been decided to relax the obligation to submit VAT coefficients in some selected sectors to make tax compliance easier for traders.
The budget has reduced the proposed 15 percent value added tax (VAT) on online video-based services, social media and search engine advertising to 5 percent. The VAT structure for gold, silver, platinum and diamond jewellery has been revised. In addition, a provision for deduction of tax at source at the rate of 50 paisa on the purchase of these jewelries has been added. Supplier-level VAT on fish supply and VAT imposed on the revenue share of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority have been withdrawn. Duties and taxes on imports of raw materials for various industries including shrimp industry, pharmaceutical industry, electrical wires, PVC and PET resins, refined copper, fire protection equipment have been reduced or withdrawn.

The budget has made it mandatory for business entities to have a bank account, take loans, renew trade licenses, connect electricity and gas, have merchant accounts for mobile financial services, and register vehicles in the name of the entity. The responsibility of collecting VAT on services received from abroad has been given to banks and authorized foreign exchange dealing institutions. A provision has been made to file returns once every three tax periods. A separate deadline has also been set for government entities, banks, and insurance companies.
Under the joint development agreement, if a landowner receives a flat, cash, or any other benefit from the developer, it is treated as a capital receipt and taxed. According to the provisions of the passed bill, if a listed company distributes dividends of less than 30 percent of its net profit after tax, an additional 10 percent tax will have to be paid on the deficit. However, banks, insurance, and financial institutions will be exempted from this provision.
Audited financial statements have been made mandatory for entities and individuals with a capital or annual sales exceeding a certain amount. Before the passage of the Finance Bill, several members including opposition Jamaat-e-Islami MPs Md. Nazibur Rahman, Professor Md. Mujibur Rahman, Md. Ali Asghar, Abdul Ghafoor and Shafiqul Islam Masud and independent MPs Rumeen Farhana and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Iqbal raised questions about the huge deficit budget, tax and VAT burden, unprecedented corruption in the banking sector, mismanagement of the health and education sectors and the reality of the loan assurance taken from the Prime Minister’s visit to China and proposed a public opinion survey to review the bill more thoroughly. However, the proposal was rejected by voice vote.
Later, the amendment proposals submitted by the members of parliament were discussed. After the discussion, some amendment proposals were accepted. The remaining proposals were rejected by voice vote.