October 11, 2025, 11:15 am
TAM Report ||
Centre for Policy Dialogue’s (CPD) has observed that scope of legalising black money will discourage honest taxpayers and it contradicts the spirit of the July Movement.
The interim government in the budget it proposed for the 2025-26 fiscal year has given an opportunity to whiten black money through land and apartment purchases.
Castigating the initiative, Executive Director Fahmida Khatun said that this measure would increase inequality and is a blow to moral values.
When such avenues are provided to whiten black money in the housing sector, property prices rise and housing becomes unaffordable for many.
She made these remarks at a post-budget press conference organised by CPD on Tuesday morning at the Lakeshore Hotel in Dhaka.
CPD’s Distinguished Fellow Mustafizur Rahman and other researchers from the organisation were also present.
While acknowledging some positive aspects of the proposed budget, Fahmida Khatun said that the ongoing economic crisis has not been adequately addressed.
These issues should have been prioritised to support ordinary citizens and businesses, she pointed out adding that several revenue-related initiatives appear to be in conflict with the budget’s declared commitment to equity-based and sustainable development.
Fahmida Khatun reiterated CPD’s long-standing position that the opportunity to legalise undisclosed income (black money) should be completely abolished as it is morally unacceptable and undermines those who pay taxes honestly.
She called for the withdrawal of this proposal from the budget, stating it creates discriminatory practices and contradicts the budget’s core promise of building a discrimination-free society.
CPD believes that, to respect the spirit of anti-discrimination movements, it is essential to remove this controversial provision.
Additionally, CPD argued that despite the government’s emphasis on inclusive development and prioritising people over infrastructure, some of the budget measures are not aligned with that vision.
For example, the new tax bracket structure divides taxpayers into six categories, where lower-income groups face higher effective tax rates compared to the wealthy. This is seen as inequitable.
Fahmida Khatun noted that development budget has been reduced. However, the cutbacks in development spending on education, health, and agriculture are concerning.
Speaking at the same event, Mustafizur Rahman said that CPD does not ethically support the provision allowing the whitening of black money.
Moreover, the budget lacks transparency on the issue of laundered money. He pointed out the contradiction between the proposal to legalise black money and the government’s silence on money laundering, suggesting it undermines their stated policy positions.