Savings Certificates: Matia decries proposal for tax rise

Former agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury yesterday blasted Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal for his budgetary proposal to increase tax at source on family savings certificate from five percent to 10 percent.

Taking part in the discussion on the proposed national budget for 2019-20 fiscal, Matia said, “I would like to talk about a sensitive issue which I can’t support. I don’t understand why he [finance minister] increased the tax at source on family savings certificate from 5 percent to 10 percent.”

Stating that savings certificate is a scheme of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the senior Awami League leader said people ranging from helpless widows to insolvent women from rural areas depend on the earnings from the savings certificate.

“Why did he interfere in it at a time when he’s giving various benefits to businessmen, increasing the salaries and benefits of government employees and teachers and also giving various facilities to different sectors?”

She also said although the finance minister wants to retain the scope for whitening black money, he is not increasing the ceiling on buying savings certificates.

Currently, a woman can buy family savings certificates of up to Tk 45 lakh.

Matia demanded that Kamal withdraw his proposal in this regard. She sought the prime minister’s special attention towards this.

Mentioning that incomes from savings certificates is legal, she said the government shouldn’t increase tax at source on it.

She presented various statistics on how the successive AL governments achieved outstanding successes in different sectors over the last 10 years.

Meanwhile, Gonoforum lawmaker Mukabbir Khan yesterday demanded the government publish a white paper on the alleged widespread corruption and irregularities in the banking sector, bad loan and money laundering.

Participating in the general discussion on the proposed budget, he also demanded the government form a special tribunal to try the loan defaulters.

Jatiya Party MP Shameem Haider Patwary urged the finance minister to set up a bank commission immediately to stop irregularities in the banking sector.

“If you make delay in forming the bank commission, it might happen that the commission will be there, but there will be no bank,” he added.