The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has suggested raising the tax-free income threshold to Tk4 lakh in the forthcoming fiscal year’s budget, taking the high inflation rate into account.
CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun made this remark today (16 March) during an event hosted by the think tank to discuss budget proposals for FY2025- 2026.
“Inflation trended upwards during the July- February period, with food inflation surpassing non-food inflation. Moreover, food inflation in rural areas was considerably higher than in urban areas. People are depleting their savings to afford basic food items,” she stated.
“In these circumstances, we believe it is reasonable to increase the tax-free income limit. Therefore, we propose raising it to Tk4 lakh in the next fiscal year,” Fahmida added.
She further remarked that Bangladesh Bank’s target of reducing the inflation rate to 7-8% by the end of June would be unattainable.
In the current fiscal year’s budget, the government set the tax-free income limit at Tk3.5 lakh.
