Finance Minister Khosru proposes gold tax cut, urges export of readymade jewellery

The budget for the fiscal year 2026-27 proposes reducing the tax at source on the supply of gold and gold jewellery from 5 percent to 0.5 percent.

While presenting the budget for the fiscal year 2026-27 on Thursday, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury also said steps will be taken to export locally made jewellery.

On the reduction in tax on gold, the minister said in his budget speech: “Due to the high rate of tax at source, the supply of gold and gold jewellery remains informal, and the government is not receiving revenue.

“To bring this business into the formal sector and increase the government's revenue collection, it is proposed to reduce the tax at source on the supply of gold and gold jewellery from 5 percent to 0.5 percent."

A fixed VAT of Tk 2,500 per 11.66g is proposed, replacing the existing 5 percent rate on jewellery services.

Khosru also called for steps to encourage jewellery exports, saying: “To modernise the jewellery industry and diversify exports, I propose to issue a new notification under the bonded warehouse system to facilitate duty-free import of raw materials and the export of jewellery manufactured from them in a fair, transparent, and systematic manner.”