The government has cut duties and taxes on imports of dates, oranges (malta) and apples to keep fruit supplies steady in the market in the coming month of Ramadan and to lower import costs. Customs duty on dates has been cut from 25 percent to 5 percent. The total tax burden on oranges and apples has been cut from 121.78 percent to 61 percent.
The decision was taken at the 27th meeting of the cabinet on Sunday (15 November), the Cabinet Division said in a press release.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman chaired the cabinet meeting at the Secretariat. The reduced duty on dates will stay in force until 10 March 2027. For oranges and apples, the reduced rate will apply from 24 January to 23 February 2027.
At the same meeting, the cabinet gave approval in principle and final approval to the draft Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (Amendment) Act, 2026. This moves forward the process of turning the related ordinance issued on 14 October into law.
The press release said the 2026-27 budget had relaxed the requirement to file VAT returns every month or every tax period. Under the new provision, returns could be filed within 15 days after the end of every three tax periods, or three months. The change, however, created various obstacles to revenue collection in the field, which made it necessary to amend section 64 of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012.
As parliament was not in session, the President issued the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026 on 14 October, on the cabinet’s approval and under the power given by Article 93(1) of the Constitution. The cabinet has now given final approval to the draft amendment act so that the ordinance can be made law in the current session of parliament. It was finalised subject to vetting by the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report