- Restaurant owners in Bangladesh threaten to strike if the government does not reconsider its plan to increase VAT on hotels and restaurants
- The warning was issued during a press conference in Dhaka
- Imran Hasan, secretary general of the Restaurant Owners Association, highlighted the issue amid high inflation rates
- Hasan argued that the VAT increase would adversely affect the general public
- He suggested the government should cut administrative costs and unnecessary projects to manage budget deficits instead of raising taxes on businesses
- The National Board of Revenue has proposed increasing VAT on food at hotels and restaurants from 5 percent to 7.5 percent for AC restaurants and from 7.5 percent to 15 percent for non-AC hotels
- Hasan criticized the government’s reliance on VAT for revenue, noting the small number of businesses that are VAT-registered and regularly paying VAT
- He pointed out the lack of effective measures to include unregistered businesses in the VAT system
Source: en.prothomalo.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
