Bangladesh to impose 15% tax on gains from gold, jewellery sales

The gap between purchase value and current market price will be treated as profit for taxation

The government is set to impose a 15 percent tax on profits earned from the sale of gold or gold ornaments declared by individual taxpayers in their income tax returns.

The proposal has been included in amendments to the Income Tax Act in the budget for the 2026–27 fiscal year.

Under the new rule, such income will be treated as capital gains, with the prevailing market value of gold taken into account for tax assessment.

The profit will be calculated based on the difference between the market value at the time of acquisition and the current market price, and the taxation will apply to that gain.

Officials say many taxpayers initially declare additional gold holdings in their returns, often citing marriage gifts or inheritance.

Later, some reportedly use proceeds from selling such gold to explain undisclosed income sources.

National Board of Revenue (NBR) officials have long maintained that the quantity of gold shown in tax returns exceeds the estimated stock of gold in the country.

The new measure aims to curb such discrepancies and prevent tax evasion through inflated or unverified gold declarations.

However, concerns remain that genuine taxpayers who accurately declare their gold holdings may be adversely affected by the new rule.

In some cases, taxpayers declare hundreds of bhori (each calculated as 11.664g) of gold in their returns but fail to specify valuation or acquisition timing, a practice officials say is used to keep such assets outside the tax net.

Under the proposed provision, if no acquisition value is declared, the entire value of the gold will be treated as capital gain, attracting a 15 percent tax.