The apex garment manufacturers’ bodies in Bangladesh – the Bangladesh Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), have called upon the Government to keep the source tax at 0.25 per cent for the next 5 years as against 0.50 per cent, proposed in the budget for the fiscal year 2020-21.
The traders’ bodies jointly wrote a letter to the Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in this direction seeking the tax reduction.
The letter underlined that COVID-19 had an adverse impact on the industry as factories had to stop operations for some time in view of the countrywide shutdown.
Besides, the crisis the fashion industry is going through globally on account of coronavirus pandemic, had impacted the apparel manufacturing sector of the country.
Being an export-oriented industry, the RMG sector of Bangladesh suffered losses as buyers cancelled orders in large scale, held back and delayed payments, all of which led to many factories calling off production and declare lay-offs.
Further, due to scarcity of fresh work orders, the letter maintained, manufacturers were forced to run their units in limited capacity while many had to shut shop for good.
As, such the garment makers urged the Government to reduce the source tax considering the global crisis and for the sake of exports.