VAT rebate rule for purchasing raw materials on credit relaxed

The revenue board has scrapped the order of obtaining VAT rebate in case of purchasing raw materials on credit after it found the enforcement complex.

Both businesses and field-level tax officials were facing problems in following the procedures for either obtaining or granting the rebate.

In an order on Sunday, the board suspended the previous guideline to resolve the issue.

From now on, the businesses will be able to claim VAT rebate without adjustment.

On November 11, the Value Added Tax (VAT) wing of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued the order with a guideline for getting such a concession.

The business community has long been demanding it.

However, the businesses found it difficult to comply with the process after the issuance of the order.

Manager (VAT) of Berger Paints Bangladesh Ltd Md Fakhrul Islam said following the process of an upward adjustment of tax paid on raw materials for the unpaid portion of the value of taxable supply was cumbersome.

"We have applied for scrapping the order as it has created complexities over the compliance on the part both taxpayers and taxmen," he said.

In a letter to the NBR, the Foreign Investors Chamber of commerce and Industry (FICCI), Berger Paints and Advanced Chemical Industries Limited have urged the NBR to withdraw the guideline.

They have pointed out several constraints of the order, which contradicts the provisions of the VAT and Supplementary Duty Act-2012 and VAT and SD rules-2016.

A senior VAT official said the businesses have been maintaining accounting software that does not support the NBR procedures.

Snehasish Barua, a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) and partner of Shehasish Mahmud and Co, hailed the initiative of suspending the order.

The new VAT law was based on transaction following the accrual basis of accounting and output VAT is payable irrespective of receiving the payment from customers.

"…allowing VAT rebate on input as a downward adjustment on cash payment basis contradicts not only the basic spirits of the VAT act, but also with accrual basis accounting," he said.

An entity is required to spend a substantial amount of time and money on bringing changes in their system, he added.

It also requires a substantial amount of time for field level officers to move to a new price since this provision was not there in the previous VAT law, he said.

According to the previous order, the credit portion of the traders should be paid through the banking channel within six months (tax periods) of purchase on credit.

However, there is no definite period of repayment of the credit.

Traders or manufacturers purchase raw materials on credit due to the scarcity of the working capital. They do not pay the price instantly through the banking channel.

As per the VAT law section-46, traders will not be able to obtain the VAT refund in case of any transaction of more than Tk 0.1 million without the banking channel.

As per the law, traders will have to obtain refund within four tax periods of VAT returns.