Article 60 Local taxes, budgets and funds
Powers of local government bodies
Local taxes and fees, such as holding tax and trade licence fees, are a direct cost for households and businesses, and they are authorised through this constitutional link.
Parliament enacts local government laws giving each type of local body defined powers. Article 60 requires these powers to include taxation for local purposes, the preparation of budgets and the maintenance of funds, so councils are not wholly dependent on Dhaka.
A city corporation or pourashava assesses holding tax on buildings and charges fees for trade licences and other local services, within the limits set by the governing law and its rules. Businesses and households pay these directly to the local body.
Each elected body prepares and approves its own annual budget, deciding how much to spend on local roads, drainage, markets and other services, and how much it will rely on grants from the central government to fill the gap.
Revenue goes into the local body's own fund, from which it pays for projects, maintenance and staff. Its accounts are subject to audit and to oversight by the government under the relevant local government law.
In plain English
How Article 60 works
Article 60 makes Parliament give local government bodies real powers so that Article 59 works in practice. By law, Parliament must confer powers on elected local bodies, including the power to impose taxes for local purposes, to prepare their own budgets and to maintain their own funds. Without money and the authority to spend it, an elected council would be little more than a symbol. This Article is why union parishads, pourashavas and city corporations can levy holding taxes, issue trade licences for a fee and approve their own annual budgets.
In practice
In practice local bodies depend heavily on grants from central government, and their own revenue powers are modest. The Appellate Division in Kudrat-E-Elahi Panir (1992) read Articles 59 and 60 together as the constitutional basis for elected local government, while accepting that Parliament may restructure the system by law. When administrators rather than elected councils run local bodies, as happened in several cases during the interim government according to 2026 commentary, the taxing and budgeting powers under Article 60 are exercised by appointed officials.
The text
What Article 60 says
60. For the purpose of giving full effect to the provisions of article 59 Parliament shall, by law, confer powers on the local government bodies referred to in that article, including power to impose taxes for local purposes, to prepare their budgets and to maintain funds.]
English text as published on the official Laws of Bangladesh website. The Bangla text is authoritative (Article 153). Where a court has changed the position, the status note above explains it.
Landmark cases
How the courts have read it
Appellate Division · 1992
Kudrat-E-Elahi Panir v Bangladesh
44 DLR (AD) 319
Treated elected local government as part of the constitutional scheme of democracy, held that local bodies must be composed of elected persons under Article 59, and allowed the system to be reorganised by law while requiring unelected administrators to be replaced through elections within six months.
Case summaries are short descriptions for orientation, not a substitute for the judgment.
History
Amendments
- Twelfth Amendment 1991 →Chapters I, II and III of Part IV were substituted for the former Chapters I and II by section 3 of Act XXVIII of 1991, restoring the parliamentary system of government.
Connected provisions
Related articles
Questions
Article 60: frequently asked questions
Can local government bodies impose taxes in Bangladesh?
Yes. Article 60 requires Parliament, by law, to give local government bodies power to impose taxes for local purposes, to prepare their budgets and to maintain funds. Holding tax and trade licence fees are common examples.
What is the link between Articles 59 and 60?
Article 59 requires local government to be run by elected bodies with functions set by Parliament. Article 60 gives full effect to that by requiring Parliament to confer financial powers, including local taxation, budgets and funds, on those bodies.
Sources
- Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Article 60 (Laws of Bangladesh)
- Prothom Alo English: Democracy and good governance: Why local govt elections matter (28 March 2026)
- Dhaka University Law Journal article citing Kudrat-e-Elahi Panir v. Bangladesh, 44 DLR (AD) 319
This guide explains the Constitution for general understanding. It is not legal advice. Constitutional reform proposals under discussion in 2026 are described as proposals until enacted.
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