Staff Correspondent

The government has exempted all edible oil, including canola and sunflower oil, from duty, tax, and VAT until March 31, 2025, aiming to increase the supply of such essential items in the market.

In order to keep the market supply normal and the prices at a tolerable level during the holy month of Ramadan, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has again exempted duty and VAT on edible oils.

The NBR has issued three separate orders in this regard, completely exempting all existing import duties, regulatory duties, and advance income tax on the import of refined and unrefined sunflower, canola, soybean, and palm oil until March 31, 2025, said a press release of the NBR.

Furthermore, in these orders, the value-added tax payable at the local level on the sale of sunflower, canola, soybean, and palm oil has been completely exempted until the specified period.

Moreover, the VAT payable at the import stage of these products has been reduced from 15% to 5%. As a result, no other customs duties other than 5% VAT remained at the import stage on these items.
For this purpose, the latest three SROs have been issued (SRO No. 414-Law/2024/98- Customs Date: 12/12/2024; SRO No. 415-Law/Income Tax-59/2024 Date: 12/12/2024, and SRO No. 416-Law/2024/266-VAT Date: 15/12/2024).

Previously, the two customs duty exemption notifications issued on 17/10/2024 and 19/11/2024 were applicable till 15/12/2024 in the case of soybean and palm oil.

In order to maintain the stability of the edible oil market and keep the prices of edible oil affordable for the consumers, the existing customs duties and VAT on the import of crude/refined sunflower oil and canola oil, along with soybean and palm oil, have been reduced.

Considering the recent upward trend in the international market prices of soybean and palm oil, the validity of the three new notifications has been kept in force till 31/03/2025 to ensure a normal supply of such items during the holy month of Ramadan.

The complete withdrawal of customs duty, regulatory duty, advance tax, and advance income tax on sunflower oil and canola oil and the reduction in value-added tax will reduce the import cost of these oils by Tk 40-50 per liter.

The NBR hopes that all these measures taken by the revenue board will increase the supply of edible oil, and as a result, the market price will be kept at a tolerable level for the common people, added the release.