Parliament on Monday passed the Finance Bill 2026, introducing several key amendments, including an increase in the income tax-free threshold for individual taxpayers and the withdrawal of the proposed provision requiring the disclosure of investments.
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury moved the bill which was passed by voice vote.
Responding to requests made by the Prime Minister during his budget discussion speech, the Finance Minister revised several proposals in the national budget including increasing the income tax-free threshold for individual taxpayers over the next five fiscal years.
Under the revised proposal, the tax-free threshold has been set at Tk 400,000 for FY2026-27 and FY2027-28, Tk 450,000 for FY2028-29 and FY2029-30, and Tk 500,000 for FY2030-31.
The proposed budget earlier proposed the thresholds at Tk 375,000, Tk 400,000 and Tk 450,000 respectively for those periods.
The proposed provision on the disclosure of investments which had triggered widespread public concern and misunderstanding has been withdrawn.
He said the proposal was intended to protect taxpayers from complications arising because many land transactions are registered at mouza values rather than actual market prices. However, respecting public opinion, the government decided to withdraw the provision.
Two other proposed measures that had created confusion among the public – making the submission of Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) certificates mandatory for opening most bank accounts and requiring TIN certificates for the registration of partition deeds and property mutations have been scrapped.
The income tax rate for private universities has been reduced from the existing 10 percent to 5 percent.
The government also expanded tax exemptions for indigenous communities in both the three hill districts and the plains by proposing that salary income, in addition to income from business, agriculture and other economic activities.
To support the shrimp sector, customs duty, regulatory duty, supplementary duty and VAT on imported shrimp feed, probiotics, vitamins, minerals, other essential inputs and related machinery will be withdrawn.
The government has reduced import duty on PVC and PET resin, widely used as industrial raw materials, from the proposed 10 percent to 5 percent.
bd-pratidin/GR
