Gold industry cannot depend only on smuggled bullion

A NOTIFICATION issued by National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Tuesday said that gold traders and jewellers will be able to legalise their undeclared stock of gold and other precious metals by paying a low tax. Almost all jewellers have gold in stock that they cannot show in their income tax returns as they do not have valid sources of purchasing those. As the country had no Gold Import Policy for many years, the entire jewellery industry had to depend on smuggled gold and hence the airports have become the entry point of transnational gold smugglers. Capitalising the security lapse in airports, many foreigners, plane crews, customs officers, serve the smugglers net in the region, while the country is being used as safest corridor for smuggling.
The NBR notification reads if any trader wants to disclose their undeclared stock of gold, they will have to pay Tk 1,000 per bhori. In case of cut and polished diamond, the tax will be at Tk 6,000 per carat. Besides, the authorities fixed the tax for silver at Tk 50 per bhori. The tax benefits will be given to the traders after they fulfil certain terms and conditions. We believe for establishing discipline in the gold market, the opportunity of legalising the precious metal is a welcoming step.
Following the Gold Policy 2018, the NBR should ease gold import process by lowering the taxation as the country has huge demand of gold. The annual demand for gold in Bangladesh is between 20 and 40 tonnes. More than 80 per cent of it is met by smuggled gold as traders face difficulties in importing the precious metal due to its complex procedure.
It’s clear, the latest move of NBR to legalise unauthorised gold with giving a small tax is mainly to discourage smuggling and use of legal channels to bring in bullion. Side by side, the authorities must beef up security at airports along with seal off the borders; so that it can can effectively control the local gold market and earn a hefty amount of tax. Gold business should be out of smugglers’ grip.