Dhaka: The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is going to launch a new online income tax return filing system for taxpayers. The new system will be unveiled on September 1.
The new system will enable taxpayers to collect income tax certificates, acknowledgement of return submission and TIN certificates at any time.
According to NBR sources on Monday, taxpayers will be able to file their current income tax returns for the current 2020-2021 by browsing online using the NBR website or their mobile sets.
Meanwhile, the NBR's Income Tax Branch conducted a pilot test last June on the acceptability of taxpayers and the Internet.
The new system was created by NBR officials after the previous project failed to attract taxpayers to file income tax returns online. Which is said to run a lot more automatically.
According to NBR sources, in November 2016, NBR launched an e-filing system developed by a Vietnamese FPT company under the Bangladesh Integrated Tax Administration System (BTAX). But in the five fiscal years from 2016 to 2020, only 21,104 taxpayers filed their tax returns online. Those concerned think that it is much less than expected.
For this, the taxpayers have to register on the website using their mobile phones registered with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
The online system will use BTRC's biometric database to verify taxpayers' authenticity and provide usernames and passwords.
In this regard, a senior official of the NBR said that taxpayers can easily file income tax returns with their mobile phones. The software will be connected to the systems of other organizations including Bank, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and Bangladesh Computer Council.
The most convenient thing is that through the new system, taxpayers will be able to collect income tax certificates, receipts of return submissions, and TIN certificates at any time, he added.
At present, there are more than 62 lakh e-TIN registered income taxpayers in Bangladesh. Of which 24 lakh taxpayers have filed income tax returns in the last financial year. That is, about 52.41 % TIN holders still do not file returns.
