, June 29 -- Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday proposed raising the income tax-free threshold for individual taxpayers over the next five fiscal years and urged the Finance Minister to withdraw several controversial provisions in the proposed national budget in response to public concerns.

Taking part in the general discussion on the proposed budget for FY2026-27 in Parliament, Tarique said the tax-free income ceiling should be increased to provide greater relief to individual taxpayers.

He proposed setting the tax-free threshold at Tk 400,000 for FY2026-27 and FY2027-28, Tk 450,000 for FY2028-29 and FY2029-30, and Tk 500,000 for FY2030-31. The budget had proposed thresholds of Tk 375,000, Tk 400,000 and Tk 450,000 respectively fo...