Budget 2024-25: Uncertainty surrounds VAT exemption for Metro Rail tickets

No decision has been made yet on extending the VAT exemption for Dhaka Metro Rail tickets, which is set to expire on June 30. 

Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali did not address the extension in the proposed budget for FY 2024-25, potentially leading to a 15% fare increase starting July 1, 2024.

Since early 2023, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has considered imposing VAT on metro rail tickets. On January 22, Commissioner Shawkat Ali of the Dhaka South VAT Commissionerate urged the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited to consider the VAT imposition.

Several meetings between the metro rail authorities and NBR followed, but no consensus was reached. In May 2023, NBR announced that the VAT exemption would remain in place until June 2024.

Finance Minister Ali presented the proposed budget for FY 2024-25 in the National Parliament today. The proposal will be discussed in parliament, and if no new decision is made, the VAT exemption will expire.