Bangladesh expands tax incentive for employers of physically challenged and third-gender people

The Bangladesh government has expanded the existing tax incentives for the employers of persons with disabilities or from third gender groups in an effort to integrate more of the marginal and underprivileged population into the economy.

As Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presented the national budget in parliament for the fiscal year 2022-23 on Thursday, he proposed more tax rebates for employers providing jobs to more than 25 persons from these groups.

“I propose to amend both the existing provisions to make it such that if any employer employs 10 percent or more than 25 persons from the physically challenged or the third gender community, the employer will be entitled to get 75 percent of the salary paid to these people or 5 percent of the tax payable, whichever is less, as a tax rebate,” he said.

“Compared to others, these people are lagging behind in socio-economic standards, and are also left outside the mainstream of society. Social inclusion of this population can be ensured by engaging them in productive employment,” he said.

“To provide employment and giving better living standards and ensuring social and economic inclusion of the physically challenged and people of the third gender, I propose in this august House to further expand the existing tax incentives provided to them.”

According to the existing provisions, an employer is allowed a 5 percent rebate on payable tax if at least 10 percent of the total workforce is recruited from the physically challenged population.

Also, a 75 percent tax rebate of the total salary paid to the workers from the people of third-gender or 5 percent of the tax payable, whichever is less, is allowed to an employer employing 10 percent or more than 100 persons of the total workforce of third gender people.

The tax-free income ceiling for individual taxpayers was Tk 165,000 in the financial year 2009-10 and was later increased to Tk 300,000 in the fiscal year 2020-21.

For the 2021-22 fiscal year, Bangladesh raised the tax-free income limit for the third gender community from Tk 300,000 to Tk 350,000 while retaining the previous year’s change in general.