15pc VAT on metro rail tickets, fare likely to rise 

There will be a 15 per cent value added tax (VAT) on the tickets of metro rail in Dhaka from 1 July.

As the tax burden is usually passed on to the consumers, the metro rail fare is likely to rise in proportionate with the tax rate. 

In this regard, the VAT Division of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued an office order on Thursday, expressing their inability in waiving the tax on the country’s first metro rail. 

Currently, there is a tax waiver privilege for the metro rail with effect until the end of the current fiscal. The operating authority, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, requested the NBR to continue the privilege in the next fiscal, but received a negative response. 

In its office order, the NBR said they are not interested in continuation of the tax waiver facility as there is an obligation to slash all types of tax waivers as per the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).