Bangladesh Group Calls for Lower Phone Sales Tax

The Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association (BMPIA) has sent a deputation to the country's Prime Minister to argue for lower taxed on imported mobile phones, arguing that lowering the taxes would cut smuggling and lead to a net rise in revenues for the government.

"Around 0.2 million mobile phone sets are illegally entering the country every month," Faisal Alim, the secretary general of the association, told local news media.

Currently, there is a 12 percent duty on each imported handset, while the trade association is asking for a lower fixed fee to be applied, regardless of the value of the phone. The trade association says that annual rise in sales of mobile phones slumped from 21% per year to under 5% when the 12% import duty was imposed.

It currently costs around Tk100-150 to smuggle a phone into the country - so the association is seeking the lower fixed duty to be set at the lower Tk100 level.