In what comes as a major relief for businesswomen in Bangladesh, authorities in the country are planning to provide significant tax relief to women entrepreneurs for the upcoming fiscal year. The move will encourage women in the country to take up their own businesses. Importantly, as a country, Bangladesh is on top in South Asia when it comes to integrating women into the workforce. 

Currently, there is no separate tax slab for women entrepreneurs in the country. “We think it is important we give special incentive to encourage them,” The Daily Star quoted a senior finance ministry official as saying. 

“We are considering the introduction of a separate ceiling of turnover for minimum tax," the official said. The threshold for annual turnover for minimum tax may go up to $82, 530 for firms run by female entrepreneurs in 2021-22, which is currently $ 59,000.  

The growth trajectory in the country in recent years has prompted many women to start their own businesses. The government now plans to tweak its policy in favor of women to further encourage them.

The country’s textile sector, one of the most important segments of its economy, employs around 4 million people- 90 percent of them are women. The export earnings from the textile sector alone account for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s total export income.

Over the last two decades, Bangladesh has consistently recorded impressive growth, which resulted in an uplift of the socio-economic condition of its people. Another significant part of its success story is the innovative ways it used to integrate different sections of society. 

For the integration of transgender people in its economy, authorities are planning to introduce a 5 percent rebate on corporate tax to the firms that employ more than 100 transgender people. 

(SAM)