Tickets for the Dhaka Metro Rail will be free of value-added tax (VAT) for another six months as the interim government has decided to maintain this exemption, according to the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
Additionally, Muslims in the country aiming to perform their religious pilgrimage during the next Hajj season will not have to pay excise duty for airline tickets.
NBR officials said these decisions have already been vetted by the law ministry and are now waiting for cabinet approval.
Md Abdur Rahman Khan, chairman of the NBR, said the revenue authority can no longer unilaterally decide to grant exemptions due to recent policy shifts.
“This is now a government decision. So, the orders will be issued by relevant authorities.”
VAT was first applied to metro rail tickets at the start of last fiscal year. However, the metro rail’s operating agency DMRTC struggled to determine how it should be collected.
Although an inter-ministerial technical committee was formed later, it was unable to reach a solution. The NBR had issued an order earlier this year, extending the VAT waiver on metro rail tickets until 31 December.
Besides, this year’s Hajj pilgrims also benefited from excise duty exemptions for their airline tickets.
In November 2024, the government exempted excise duty along with a 15 percent VAT charge on passengers’ embarkation fees, security fees, and airport security charges.
Thanks to the exemption, each Hajj goer will now save more than Tk5,000 on travelling.
