NBR explains heavy tax cut in import of air purifiers

Dhaka, 21 Jan - The National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Tuesday said the import cost of air purifiers will be reduced from Tk 1,500 to Tk 7,000 each depending on the quality following the cut in the import duty along with exemption of regulatory duty (RD) and advance tax (AT).

In a press release issued today, it said that as a result of this exemption, the total tax burden on air purifier imports has been reduced from 58.60% to 31.50%.

On Monday the NBR issued a notification reducing the existing customs duty (CD) on air purifier imports from 25% to 10% and completely exempting them from paying 3% regulatory duty and 5% advance tax.

Currently, according to the NBR press release, Dhaka and other cities in Bangladesh are among the world's worst-hit air polluted metropolises. This air pollution is causing widespread damage to public health and causing huge financial losses to the people.

In that context, the NBR took the decision to combat the harmful effects of air pollution by reducing customs duties at the import level and making effective air pollution control equipment like air purifiers easily available, said the release.

Due to the reduction in import cost, the NBR hoped that the air purifiers will be easily available to the public at a lower price.

The NBR said it believes that the widespread use of air purifiers will be helpful in preventing the adverse effects of air pollution on public health.

Meanwhile, Dhaka, the densely populated capital of Bangladesh, ranked as the city with the third-worst air quality worldwide, registering an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 244 on Tuesday morning at 8:50am.

According to the AQI index, the city’s air quality on the day fell under the “very unhealthy” category, indicating a severe health risk.

The AQI scale categorizes air quality levels as follows: a score between 50 and 100 is deemed ‘moderate’, suggesting sensitive individuals should limit prolonged outdoor activities; 101 to 150 is classified as ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’; 150 to 200 is considered ‘unhealthy’; 201 to 300 falls under ‘very unhealthy’; and a reading above 300 is labeled ‘hazardous’, posing significant health risks to the public.