The Dhaka Times Desk The business leaders of the national trade organizations related to this sector expressed gratitude and thanks to the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for extending the tax exemption period of the information and communication technology sector by 3 years in the budget of the fiscal year 2024-25 announced by the government on behalf of the entrepreneurs of the entire information technology sector. They also said that policy support is needed to achieve self-reliance in this sector.
Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), Bangladesh Computer Society (BCS), Bangladesh Association of Contact Center and Outsourcing (BAKCO), Internet Service Providers Association (ISPAB) and E - This press conference was organized by the joint initiative of Commerce Association of Bangladesh (E-CAB).
Basis President Russell T Ahmed, BAKCO President Waheed Sharif, ISPAB President Md Imdadul Haque and Syeda Ambarin Reza, Vice President of E-CAB were present and presented the budget response on behalf of their respective associations and answered various questions related to the budget of the media representatives.
Basis president Russell T Ahmed said in his speech, "Keeping in mind the budget proposal of BASIS and with the belief of building a smart Bangladesh, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for extending the tax exemption period of the information technology sector by 3 years on behalf of the entrepreneurs of the entire information technology sector. This tax exemption will not only contribute to the development of information technology sector but will also play the role of nucleus in various fields including education, health care, agriculture, banking system, export-oriented manufacturing industries in the construction of Smart Bangladesh. Which we expect to usher in a new wave of technological development and innovation in various sectors of the knowledge-based cashless economy closely linked to the fourth industrial revolution.”
Russell T Ahmed also said, “Currently, only 10% of the US$ 20 million market of cloud services and web hosting in the country is in the hands of domestic entrepreneurs. Bringing it under new taxation will discourage domestic entrepreneurs. As the local market for web hosting and cloud services continues to grow, these two sectors must be kept under tax exemption to stimulate Bangladeshi IT and service companies. Also, investors in hi-tech parks may lose their current duty-free benefits and face 1% import duties on almost all categories of capital equipment. It is requested to review this and maintain the existing duty-free facility for investors in hi-tech parks.”
BAKCO President Waheed Sharif said that tax exemption in the IT sector will undoubtedly contribute directly to technological development, innovation and creation of new entrepreneurs. Besides, it will make an important contribution to various export-oriented industries including education system, health care, banking system. As a result, employment will be created on the one hand, and a large amount of foreign currency will be earned. We believe that it will accelerate the country's economy.
Waheed Sharif also said, on the other hand, in the budget, tax exemptions have been removed from sectors such as cloud services, IT process outsourcing, medical transcription, search engine optimization, system integration and NTTN services. Due to which there will be a negative impact on the IT industry. On the other hand, the cost of mobile internet services will increase as the supplementary duty is proposed to increase by 5 percent on services provided through the use of mobile SIM cards. It is not possible to achieve smart Bangladesh without mobile internet and expansion of internet at marginal level.
ISPAB President Md. Imdadul Haque said that despite the instructions of the Prime Minister in the proposed budget for the financial year 2024-25 for the desired development of the information technology service sector, all the services of the ISP institutions are not included in ITES, 10% on Broadband Internet Service Providers (AIT) and ONU, OLT are currently 37%. The ISP Association feels that the expansion of Internet services and the creation of Smart Bangladesh from Digital Bangladesh will be hampered by not reducing the imposed VAT and duties and duties on all materials used in the IT sector.
On behalf of ISP Association of Bangladesh, I am expressing a strong reaction against such a retrograde decision. At the same time, to ensure optimal use of the Internet and to remove obstacles, I strongly demand to include all services of ISPs in ITES in the revised budget 2024-25. Moreover, we demand to withdraw the VAT and customs duties currently imposed on Broadband Internet Service Providers (AIT) at 10% (AIT) and ONU, OLT at 37.% and on all materials used in IT sector.
Syeda Ambarin Reza, Vice President of E-CAB, said that in the implementation of Smart Bangladesh, the existing benefits of IT and ITIS sector should be maintained and the supporting sector should also be developed. Because sometimes the growth of the main industry is hindered due to the support industry. One of the supporting sectors of the digital industry is website hosting and cloud services. Currently, this sector of the country is still dependent on foreign services. Tax exemptions will play a very important role in the coming years to ensure competitive prices and services for the development of domestic services in this sector. Another subsidiary and integrated sector is the logistics sector. The existing VAT in the logistics sector needs to be withdrawn to expand e-commerce and smart logistics services. Because this creates a price difference between the products and services sold online and the products and services of conventional stores. In this way, online product service entrepreneurs do not get a level playing field. Therefore, according to the proposal of e-cab, VAT is withdrawn in the case of companies that deliver their own goods and services. And the minimum 5% VAT may be charged for establishments providing these services to third parties.
Syeda Ambarin Reza also said, to encourage digital payment, we demand to provide a minimum two percent cash incentive equal to the payment charge in this sector. As banks and financial institutions deduct the payment charges and the remaining amount is returned to the e-commerce and IT platforms, there is no scope for tax deduction at source. In this situation, it is a logical call to not include the payment gateway charges in the Non-TDS deduction list. News bulletins.
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How to prevent dengue
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral fever. This fever is different from other viral or bacterial fevers. However, this fever is not contagious in any way. This viral fever can occur alone or in combination with other viruses (chikungunya, yellow fever, Burma forest, flu, respiratory syncytial) and bacteria (pneumococcus).
Dengue fever is divided into two categories depending on the severity of symptoms and fever.
1. Common dengue fever
2. Dengue fever with bleeding.
In the case of common dengue fever, the following symptoms are mainly seen-
1. Sudden high fever lasting 2 to 7 days.
2. Severe headache.
3. Pain behind the eyes.
4. Along with the fever, red rash appears all over the body.
5. Severe pain in whole body as well as back pain.
6. Nausea or vomiting.
7. A rash or red bumps on the skin.
In case of dengue fever with bleeding:
1. Bleeding from nose, mouth or vomiting with high fever within 2 to 48 hours.
2. Fluid accumulation in chest or abdomen along with fever.
If any of these symptoms appear, seek medical attention immediately.
On the other hand
Wait at home for the first 3 days of fever. On the other hand, sponge the whole body with water every now and then. This will reduce the level of fever. Drink enough water and rest. After that, if the fever does not decrease or if it continues to increase after some time, consult a doctor immediately.
Things to do to prevent Dengue:
1. Try to keep the surroundings of the house as clean as possible.
2. If there are flower tubs or broken plastic bottles, can shells, tires or polythene inside the house, clean them quickly and drain the accumulated water from the flower tubs.
3. Spray or fog at least 3 times a week to kill mosquitoes.
4. You can keep mosquito repellent cream with you while going out.
5. After evening, younger and older members of the household should use mosquito nets.
6. Clean up any accumulated rain water, as this is the time when Aedes mosquitoes lay their eggs.
7. On the other hand, you can use mats along with mosquito nets to avoid mosquito infestation.
8. Since Aedes mosquitoes bite during the day, it is important to avoid sleeping with mosquito nets while sleeping during the day. Source: https://dmpnews.org
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