Finance Bill passed with tax-free income limit of Tk 4 lakh

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 provision for disclosure of information related to proposed investments. Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury introduced the bill in the session of the National Assembly yesterday (June 29). Later, the bill was passed by voice vote under the chairmanship of Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram.
In view of the instructions given by the Prime Minister during the budget discussion, the Finance Minister has 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 amended 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. Earlier, the proposed budget proposed tax-free income limits of Tk 3.75 lakh, Tk 4 lakh and Tk 4.5 lakh respectively.
The Finance Minister said that the proposal to disclose investment information has also been withdrawn, as it created confusion and concern in the public mind.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 prices instead of actual market prices. However, respecting public opinion, the government has decided to withdraw it.
He said that two other proposals have also been withdrawn due to confusion among the public. There is a proposal to make TIN certificate mandatory for opening most bank accounts and a proposal to make TIN certificate mandatory for registering partition deeds and changing names. The Finance Minister has proposed to reduce the income tax rate of private universities from the current 10 percent to 5 percent.
Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury has proposed to further expand the existing tax benefits for the three hill districts and small ethnic groups in the plains. As a result, income from business, agriculture and other economic activities as well as salary-based income will be tax-free. He proposed to withdraw customs duty, regulatory duty, supplementary duty and VAT on imported shrimp feed, probiotics, vitamins, minerals, other essential inputs and related equipment to support the shrimp sector. In addition to increasing duty exemption on import of raw materials for domestic industries, the Finance Minister has 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 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 regulatory 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 processing industry from 15 percent to 5 percent. In addition, it has been proposed to extend the existing duty-free period on the import of locally produced LED lights and raw materials for the construction of prefabricated buildings until June 30, 2030.
To encourage the use of formal payment methods in digital advertising, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury has proposed to reduce the existing 15 percent VAT on advertising on social media, OTT platforms, search engines, online marketplaces and other digital media to 5 percent.
He expressed the hope that this will reduce informal payments abroad and increase tax compliance. In addition, it has been proposed to fix VAT at 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 supply at the supplier level.
In order to encourage the domestic automobile industry, it has been proposed to reduce VAT on locally manufactured double cabin pickup vans and microbuses from 15 percent to 5 percent. In addition, it has been decided to relax the obligation to submit VAT coefficients in some selected sectors to facilitate tax compliance for businesses.