When to file income tax returns to avoid penalties
Taxpayers have only two months left to file their income tax returns without penalties. They can submit their returns and pay the applicable tax without any penalty until 31 December. Those who file their returns from 1 January onwards will face penalties.
From this year, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has made online tax return submission mandatory for all taxpayers. The system will therefore calculate the applicable tax automatically.
As a result, if taxpayers try to submit their returns from 1 January onwards by paying only the assessed tax, the NBR system will not accept their submissions.
Bangladesh currently has more than 12.5 million holders of Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs). Of them, only around five million file their tax returns each year.
When can you receive tax relief, when will you face penalties
Taxpayers who filed their returns in the first quarter of the current financial year (July–September) will receive a tax relief of 5 per cent of the tax paid or Tk 25,000, whichever is lower. However, the relief applies only to the tax paid at the time of filing the return.
Those filing their returns in the second quarter (October–December), including the current period, will not receive any tax relief. They only need to pay the applicable tax, with no incentives available.
Taxpayers who file their returns in the January–March quarter will have to pay an additional amount equivalent to 2 per cent of the tax payable or Tk 3,000, whichever is higher. The penalty will increase further for returns filed after March.
Those filing returns between April and June will have to pay an additional amount equivalent to 5 per cent of the tax payable or Tk 5,000, whichever is higher.
How to pay tax
Taxpayers can pay their taxes from home and submit their income tax returns online using bank transfers, debit cards, credit cards, bKash, Rocket, Nagad or other mobile financial service applications.
If taxpayers encounter any problems while filing their returns online, NBR officials will provide round-the-clock assistance through the call centre and other electronic channels to resolve them promptly.
Keep your documents safe
A taxpayer’s responsibility does not end with submitting a return. Taxpayers should preserve the necessary documents for the prescribed period so that they can readily produce them if tax officials conduct an audit in the future.
Submitting a return with incorrect or incomplete information can expose taxpayers to risks.