Bangladesh waives duties, taxes on edible oil

Bangladesh has lifted all existing import duties, regulatory duties and advance income tax on the import of sunflower, canola, soybean and palm oil until March 31, 2025.

The goal is to keep the supply in the market normal and the prices affordable during Ramadan, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said in a notification on Monday (December 16). Three separate notifications have been issued in this regard on December 15.

In these notifications, the value-added tax payable locally on the sale of sunflower, canola, soybean and palm oil has been fully exempted until March 31 next year. In addition, the VAT payable at the import stage of all these products has been reduced to 5 percent from 15 percent.

This means, there are no other duties and taxes left on these products except the 5 percent VAT at the import stage.

Two duty exemption notifications issued on October 17 and November 19 applied to soybean and palm oil until December 15.

With the complete withdrawal of customs duty, regulatory duty, advance tax and advance income tax on sunflower oil and canola oil and the reduction in VAT, the import cost of these oils will be reduced by Tk 40-50 per litre.

Bangladesh’s annual demand for edible oil is about 2 million tonnes. Almost 1.8 million tonnes are imported, according to the Tariff Commission.