From ‘Happily Married’ to ‘Happily Taxed’: Dhaka dwellers might have to pay taxes to get married

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Source: The Daily Star

People who want to get married in the southern part of Dhaka city are about to have a little more trouble than normal. Those who are getting married for the first time can relax, but those who are getting married for the second, third, or fourth time should be worried.

In order to raise more money, Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) wants to put a tax on weddings. The tax will be collected according to the Municipal Corporations (Taxation) Rules of 1986.

Ariful Haque, the chief revenue officer of DSCC, said that the tax is expected to be put in place at the start of the next financial year.

“This will be done in line with the 1986 Act. Even though the act gives the city corporation the right to charge this tax, it couldn’t be done for a number of reasons. “We are now moving toward putting it into place,” he said.

Rule 50 of the Municipal Corporations (Taxation) Rules of 1986 says, “When it has been decided with the prior approval of the Government that a tax on marriage should be imposed, the City Corporation shall, at a meeting, determine the rate of tax not to exceed the amount specified in the Model Tax Schedules.”

The 2016 City Corporation Model Tax Schedule has different tax rates for a person’s first, second, third, and fourth marriages.

In Section 152 of the Schedule, it says, “For the first marriage or marriage after the death of the first wife, the groom will pay Tk 100.”

The husband will pay Tk 5,000 for the second marriage during the first wife’s life, and Tk 20,000 for the third marriage during the lives of the first two wives.

The Schedule says that the man will pay Tk 50,000 for the fourth marriage.

If the wife is emotionally unstable or doesn’t have any children, these rules don’t apply. Instead, the groom will have to pay Tk 200.

The DSCC initiative has been accepted by the law ministry, which is in charge of marriage registration right now. It has already sent a letter to the office of the Registrar General, Birth and Death Registration of both city companies.

Mokbul Hossain, who is in charge of public relations for the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), said that there is no plan to charge people a marriage tax.