Staff Reporter :
Starting from the fiscal year 2024–25, individual taxpayers in Bangladesh who own more than one car, including sedans, jeeps, and microbuses, will be subject to an environmental surcharge as per a circular issued by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Sunday.
According to the circular, if a taxpayer owns a second vehicle with an engine capacity of up to 1,500 cc or 75 kilowatts, they will have to pay a surcharge of Tk 25,000.
The surcharge increases gradually based on the vehicle’s engine capacity.
For vehicles with an engine capacity between 1,500 cc and 2,000 cc, or 75 to 100 kilowatts, the surcharge is Tk 50,000.
If the engine capacity is 3,500 cc, or 175 kilowatts, the surcharge rises significantly to Tk 3.50 lakh.
In the circular issued by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), it has been specified that companies and firms will be exempt from paying the environmental surcharge for owning more than one car.
This exemption has been granted because the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has not yet established a comprehensive database for tracking vehicle ownership by companies and firms.
According to NBR officials, the exemption was necessary because during processes such as registration renewal or the issuance of fitness certificates, there are challenges in accurately verifying the ownership of cars belonging to firms and companies.
“The BRTA officials can do this for individual taxpayers. So, we have kept the surcharge payments for individual taxpayers,” said a NBR official, wishing his anonymity.
As per the NBR’s circular, taxpayers must pay the surcharge during the renewal of fitness certificates. The NBR also imposed conditions for the renewal of fitness certificates in the circular.