Private medical colleges request income tax waiver
At present, private medical colleges must pay 25 percent tax on their revenue
The Bangladesh Private Medical College Association (BPMCA) requested that the tax imposed on the income of private medical colleges be withdrawn because they are service-oriented and non-profit institutions.
A five-member BPMCA delegation, led by its president MA Mubin Khan, met with National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem at NBR's conference room, in Dhaka, yesterday.
At the meeting, the BPMCA leaders placed the organisation's recommendations with the NBR to be included in the national budget for the fiscal year 2020-2021. They highlighted the existing problems of private medical colleges.
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At present, private medical colleges must pay 25 percent tax on their revenue.
The BPMCA said as per the Medical College Establishment and Management (revised) Policy 2011 all private medical colleges in the country are non-profit organisations.
Later, BPMCA's delegation requested the NBR chairman exempt them from paying customs duty on imports of medical equipment and life-saving drugs that are not manufactured in the country.
At present, they have to pay a one percent customs duty on the import of medical equipment.
If this tax is waived, treatment can be provided at a lower cost, or in some cases for free, they added.
It proposed the imposition of a four percent value added tax on the rent of all the houses or offices of the service sector citing that those are labour-intensive.
MA Mubin Khan said, "Our proposal will help the government achieve the aims of the National Development Goals; Vision 2021 and Vision 2041; the SDG targets; and the goals of health care and education, including transforming from a developing country into a developed one."
Anwar Khan Medical College and Hospital Chairman Dr Anwar Hossain Khan MP, East-West Medical College and Hospital Chairman Dr Moazzem Hossain, Managing Director of Green Life Medical College Hospital Dr Mainul Ahasan, and chairman of Universal Medical College and Hospital Priti Chakraborty were present at the meeting.
