Special Correspondent: The Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Foundation has proposed rolling out Preferential Tax Regimes or clusters for the SME entrepreneurs in the country to ensure their further flourish.
They also demanded of the government to keep annual turnover of up to Tk 1 crore outside the purview of VAT, fixing Tk 35,000 as specific tax per month for annual turnover of Tk 1 crore to Tk 2 crore, fixing Tk 75,000 as specific tax per month for annual turnover in between Tk 2 crore to Tk 3 crore and Tk 1, 50,000 as specific tax per month for annual turnover in between Tk 3 crore to Tk 5 crore.
General Manager of SME Foundation Mohammad Jahangir Hossain placed the proposals through a presentation at a view-exchange meeting on "SME-friendly budget proposals 2025-26" held at the ERF auditorium in the capital on Tuesday. The SME Foundation and the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) jointly organized the meeting.
SME Foundation Chairperson Md Mushfiqur Rahman spoke at the view-exchange as the chief guest while it's Managing Director Anwar Hossain Chowdhury and Board Member and President of Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) Shamim Ahmed spoke as special guests.
Presided over by ERF Acting President Ashraful Islam, its General Secretary Abul Kashem moderated the event. Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest, SME Foundation Chairperson Md Mushfiqur Rahman said that their primary objective is to have a preferential tax regime for the SME entrepreneurs to protect their interests as well as ensuring flourish the SME sector.
In this regard, he said that various sessions were held with the concerned stakeholders, trade bodies and the revenue board.
"We're hoping that some of our proposals will be accepted by the government which will be entrepreneurs friendly," he added.
Terming SMEs as the backbone of the country's economy, SME Foundation Managing Director Anwar Hossain Chowdhury said that the government would have to be more sensitive to the SME entrepreneurs in order to ensure their further flourish.
Anwar mentioned that the countrywide SMEs have so far created a huge number of employment opportunities adding that the SME Foundation seeks kind attention of the government towards the SME sector.
He said that the SME Foundation has been working tirelessly to remove the hurdles that the SMEs are facing towards their operations. Anwar also sought separate budgetary allocation for the SME Foundation every year.
In his presentation, SME Foundation General Manager Jahangir also proposed for making ideal VAT rate at 10 percent from 15 percent, increasing duty on import of all finished goods to safeguard the local industry, reducing the corporate tax rate for the non-listed SMEs to 20 percent from 27.50 percent and making budgetary allocations for the SME Foundation.
He informed that following five consultation meetings and one validation workshop with 34 associations and five research firms, the SME Foundation received a total of more than 300 budget proposals for FY26.
But, after thorough scrutiny, the SME Foundation submitted a total of 140 budget proposals in a pre-budget meeting with the revenue board.