Businesses going to get VAT reg numbers online

Doulot Akter Mala | Published: March 15, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Businesses are going to get new VAT-registration numbers online from April as prelude to enforcement of the now dormant Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (SD) Act, officials said.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has planned to issue the new Value Added Tax (VAT) registration numbers preparatory to execution of the much-discussed tax law as per government decision.
When the new VAT and SD act comes into force on July 1, 2016, as scheduled, the existing VAT law 1991 will stand void.
All of the taxpayers have to obtain a new nine-digit VAT-registration number or Business Identification Number (BIN) under the updated law.
The payers have to submit VAT returns every month after enforcement of the law that saw long-drawn discussions between the government's finance-revenue authorities and businesses.
There will be separate user-identification number and password for each taxpayer to help them submit tax returns online. Taxpayers have to create their own ID number and password by accessing the NBR site for online registration.
The NBR will provide VAT-registration numbers only to the compliant taxpayers.
"We will provide BINs to the compliant businesses while others will have to create BINs on their own," said a senior official of the VAT online project.
Businesses that submit at least two VAT returns annually will be considered compliant taxpayers and get the BIN from the revenue board, he said.
Submission of tax return is also mandatory under the VAT law although only 32,000 payers submit VAT return out of 840,000 BIN-holders.
Under the existing VAT law, the VAT official can slap Tk 20,000 penalty for non-submission of VAT returns. Also, monthly 2.0 per cent interest will be added up to the unpaid tax.
Maximum 50 per cent of the penal tax or the equivalent amount of evaded tax can also be slapped on the taxpayers for evasion of VAT by not submitting returns.
Officials said the penal measures will be intensified with the implementation of the VAT law from July 1, 2016.
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