Plastic makers yesterday voiced their displeasure about the lack of incentives for them in the proposed budget for fiscal 2020-21. The government has not withdrawn the value-added tax on plastic-made dishes, jugs, mugs, bowls, glasses, dishwashers, baskets, buckets, soap trays, garbage baskets, hand fans and spice trays, which were mainly used by financially insolvent people who were now unable to pay higher prices thanks to the present crisis, said the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA). Therefore, the association demanded VAT exemption for products like tiffin carriers and water bottles. Md Jashim Uddin, president of the BPGMEA, though thanked the government for continuing the provision of VAT exemption in the VAT act and maintaining the turnover tax facility. “Congratulations to the present government for exempting VAT on environmentally friendly plastic granules that are being produced by recycling plastic waste,” he said. The association said a general order of the National Board of Revenue last year introduced a provision for registering all manufactured products in the plastics sector under VAT irrespective of turnover. “As a result, it will not be possible to keep factories of the small and medium industry running paying this VAT,” he added. The BPGMEA demanded the cancellation of the NBR’s general order, which conflicted with the VAT act, according to the statement. The government needs to stop wastage and misappropriation of money to increase funding for achieving key targets of the proposed budget. The association also thanked the finance minister for steps to create new entrepreneurs and jobs, increase investment, expand industrialisation, protect domestic industries and to achieve poverty alleviation and national development targets, the government’s vision 2021 and 2041 and sustainable development goals to address the economic crisis arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
