NBR asks Tariff Commission to assess impact of duty cuts on prices

AHM Shafiquzzaman, chairman of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), told TBS that tariff rates in Bangladesh were already relatively high compared with other countries, while occasional reductions had little impact on retail prices.

He blamed dishonest businesses and delays in implementing price adjustments, as well as inadequate monitoring by the NBR.

An NBR senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said tax concessions were granted primarily to benefit consumers, but concerns remained that the intended beneficiaries were not receiving the benefits.

“The government does not provide tax relief to benefit businesses,” the official said, adding that the assessment would help the NBR determine who had benefited and by how much, making future policy decisions easier.

The 18 products under review include composite paper, pesticides, dates, spices, dialysis equipment, medicines and pharmaceutical raw materials, computers and components, point-of-sale (POS) machines, electric chargers and charging stations, electric vehicles (EVs) and fabrics.

Businesses have also been accused of misleading the tariff commission and the commerce ministry to secure concessions, which they subsequently fail to pass on to consumers. Allegations have also surfaced that some officials lobby for particular sectors when submitting recommendations to the NBR.

A senior BTTC official, also speaking anonymously, cautioned that lower duties did not automatically translate into lower prices.

An increase in the dollar exchange rate or higher transportation and supply costs could offset the impact of a tariff cut, the official said. Prices might otherwise have risen further without the concessions, the official added.

The commission will review the cases, although its scope is limited for some products, including medicines and EVs, where the relevant recommendations did not originate from the BTTC.

Tax cuts on dialysis supplies yet to lower patient costs

Dr Mohib Ullah Khondoker, director of Gonoshasthaya Kendra in Savar, said importers of dialysis filters previously paid 5-7% tax but could later claim rebates, meaning the concessions offered little additional benefit to both healthcare providers and patients.

The latest tax relief had not reduced patients’ treatment costs so far, he said.

However, withdrawing the 15% VAT imposed when healthcare providers purchase dialysers from suppliers could directly benefit patients. A dialyser currently costs around Tk800, and removing the VAT could reduce its price by about Tk100, he said.

Muhammad Halimuzzaman, secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) and chief executive officer of Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Limited, said the impact of tariff concessions on pharmaceutical raw materials would depend on which materials had previously been excluded from the benefits, the size of the duty reductions and their effect on production costs.

The inclusion of 17 additional raw materials could benefit pharmaceutical companies, he said. However, a separate concession covering 53 raw materials imported by active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers was unlikely to directly reduce consumer prices because the sector already enjoyed tariff benefits.

Similarly, anticancer medicines had already received duty concessions, meaning the latest decision might not lead to further price reductions, he said. However, removing duties on medicines that were previously taxed could create scope for lower prices.

Halimuzzaman also welcomed the NBR’s decision to reduce import duties on biological safety cabinets used in pharmaceutical manufacturing from 25% to 1%, though he did not specify whether the reduction would lower consumer costs.