Institute of Chartered Acco untants of Bangladesh (1CABI has urged the government to reconsider the proposed imposition ol VAT on audit and accounting firms. reports UNB

The VAT. if at all should not only be imposed on CA firms, but must be applicable equally to all professionals, said leaders ot the ICAB at a press conference here yester day

1CAB president A N Altat Hussain Siddiqui said the country's CA firms are now un der the threat of closure due to the 15 per cent VAT pro posed in the finance bill placed in the, parliament.

With the imposition of VAT.

the number of qualified char tered accountants will drop substantially as the -number ot audit and accounting firms will get reduced under the addt tional burden of the proposed VAT he alleged

He feared that if the local CA firms are closed, there would be a vacuum in this sec tor and foreign firms would come here to fill it

At present, some 221 chartered accountants are en gaged in the profession in 170 audit firms The total number of chartered accountants in the country is 675. of which some 150 are serving abroad and the rest working in Oth«

firms

Besides, some 3.200 artl cled student* are also working under the audit and accounting lirms Their future will also become uncertain if the CA lirms are forced to cease practising because of the imposition of VAT

The ICAB leaders pointed out that the VAT system In this sector would not be an economic one as the administra five cost and other expend! ture would be higher than the estimated amount of collection from the CA firms

They said CA firms are working to bring in trans parencv accountability and < redibilitv in the accounts of government and non govern

ment companies that help the overall economic activities of the country.

The number of CA firms constitutes only 0 61 per cent of the total professional practitioners including doctors, engineers, lawyers and tax consultants But the other professionals are still out of the VAT net

ICAB vice presidents Md Anisur Rahman and Abbas Uddin Khan, council members Jainul Abedin. Zahir Uddin Ahmed and Howlader Mahfel Huq and fellow member Amanullah Khan were present at the press conference held at the VIP lounge of Jatiya Press (fi.