Published: 12:19 AM, 16 November 2026
Government reduces import duties on dates, oranges and apples
A meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the Secretariat on Sunday where decisions were made to curb import taxes on dates, oranges and apples ahead of the holy month of Ramadan. -PMO
The Bangladesh government has reduced import duties and taxes on dates, oranges and apples ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.
Under a Cabinet decision, the existing 25 percent customs duty on imported dates has been reduced to 5 percent. The reduced rate will remain in effect until March 10.
Additionally, the total tax burden on imported oranges (Malta), classified under HS Code 08051010, and apples, classified under HS Code 08081010, has been reduced from 121.78 percent to 61 percent for the period from January 24 to February 23.
The decisions were taken at the 27th Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, at the Cabinet Division in the Secretariat on Sunday. The Internal Resources Division submitted the proposals.
The Cabinet Division announced the decisions in a press release following the meeting.
At the meeting, the Cabinet also granted both in-principle and final approval to the draft Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (Amendment) Act, 2026.
Under the new draft legislation, the requirement to submit VAT returns every month or for each tax period, introduced in the 2026-2027 fiscal year's budget, was relaxed. Instead, taxpayers were allowed to submit their returns within a maximum of 15 days following the completion of every three tax periods, or three months.
However, the change subsequently created various obstacles to revenue collection at the field level. As a result, the government considered it necessary to revise the provision requiring taxpayers to submit returns within 15 days after the completion of every three tax periods or three months.
To address these difficulties, an initiative was taken to amend Section 64 of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012.
As Parliament was not in session at the time, the president, exercising the powers granted under Article 93(1) of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, promulgated the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, on October 14, following Cabinet approval.
The draft Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (Amendment) Act, 2026, was subsequently prepared with the aim of converting the ordinance into legislation during the current session of Parliament.
Following vetting by the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, the Cabinet granted final approval to the draft bill.
