DCCI pushes for tax-free income limit at Tk 5 lakh

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) is swinging for taxpayers’ relief, urging the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to bump the tax-free income limit from Tk 3.5 lakh to Tk 5 lakh. 

The pitch landed Tuesday, March 18, during a pre-budget huddle with NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan at his Agargaon office in Dhaka—a move that could lighten wallets as fiscal talks heat up.  

The DCCI also proposed stretching the second tax slab—from Tk 1 lakh to Tk 3 lakh—while keeping its 5 per cent rate intact. 

For the high earners, they want the top tax rate sliced from 30 per cent to 25 per cent. It’s a bold trio of tweaks, aiming to ease the squeeze on everyone from middle-income workers to the elite.  

The call echoes a recent nudge from the Centre for Policy Dialogue, which floated Tk 4 lakh as the new tax-free floor. DCCI’s Tk 5 lakh leap jumps past that, signalling a louder cry for breathing room in a tax net that’s long felt tight.