National Board of Revenue (NBR) is set to introduce a system allowing exporters without bond licenses to import raw materials duty-free, NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan announced on Wednesday.

“We have already started the process,” he said during a meeting titled ‘Meet the Business,’ organized for the first time to gather feedback from business representatives about challenges at the field level. This meeting will now be held on the second Wednesday of every month.

Under the new system, exporters without bond licenses will be able to import raw materials without paying duties, provided they secure a bank guarantee ensuring the imported materials will be used exclusively for export purposes and not sold or used in the domestic market.

The chairman added that the policy has been sent to the legislative division for final approval and is expected to receive the green light next week.

Currently, the bond system allows export-oriented companies to import raw materials duty-free, which are stored in bonded warehouses and used to manufacture export products. Companies selling these goods domestically are required to pay import duties.
Md Abdur Rahman Khan also announced plans to launch bond audits soon and highlighted that automating the bond system would facilitate risk-based audits.
“The main aim is to ensure compliant taxpayers are not burdened unnecessarily,” he said.

Looking ahead, the NBR chairman said that tax payments for corporate taxpayers will be fully digitized starting next year and the board is working hard to implement this.

Criticizing the prevalent culture of tax exemptions, he stated that tax exemptions will be limited to essential policy cases only and the authority to grant such exemptions now rests solely with the parliament.

He stressed the importance of gradually eliminating the tax exemption culture and noted that taxpayers will be more willing to pay taxes if they see funds being used for priority welfare programs.

The chairman also emphasized the need to hold NBR officials accountable for any undue harassment of taxpayers.
During the meeting, Md Abdur Rahman Khan listened to various concerns from business representatives and responded to their queries.