Super rich have to pay more taxes

The super rich would have to pay more tax as the budget proposed restructuring the surcharge on individual's net wealth and increase the maximum rate up to 30 percent.

Ten percent surcharge on net wealth between Tk 2.25 crore and Tk 5 crore and 15 percent on wealth between Tk 5 crore and Tk 10 crore have been proposed.

The proposals also include 20 percent surcharge on wealth between Tk 10 crore and Tk 15 crore, 25 percent between Tk 15 crore and Tk 20 crore, and 30 percent surcharge on net wealth exceeding Tk 20 crore.

At present, there is 10 percent surcharge on net wealth between Tk 2.25 crore and Tk 10 crore; 15 percent between Tk 10 crore and Tk 20 crore; 20 percent between Tk 20 crore and Tk 30 crore; and 25 percent on wealth exceeding Tk 30 crore.

The budget proposed to maintain the minimum surcharge of Tk 3,000 on net wealth exceeding Tk 2.25 crore.

The number of people paying wealth surcharge rose to 10,931 in 2014-15 from 10,152 a year ago, bringing Tk 254 crore into the state coffer, a 22 percent rise year-on-year, according to the National Board of Revenue.

The government introduced wealth surcharge in 2011-12 as an alternative to wealth tax.

In the first year, the state got only Tk 65 crore after the government imposed a 10 percent surcharge on net wealth over Tk 2 crore.

Taxmen and analysts said the number of wealthy people and the wealth shown by them on paper should be higher due to price spiral of properties and the rise in the number of flats and expensive cars.

The number of the wealthy people will increase if the government calculates the value of land and flats on the basis of present market prices, they said.

At 10.3 percent of gross domestic product, Bangladesh has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios globally. There are 12 lakh income taxpayers in the country among the population of 160 million.

In a study in 2012, Economic Research Group, a local research organisation, said the number of people with wealth Tk 2 crore or more would be 1.05 percent or 10,500 of 10 lakh active taxpayers.