NBR to bring 4m entities under VAT net in two years

FE REPORT | Published: December 09, 2025 23:12:41

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has set an ambitious goal to bring four million businesses under VAT registration within the next two years.
This is part of its efforts to expand the VAT net and ensure greater compliance across the country.
NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan says the current 644,000 VAT-registered entities do not reflect the true scale of Bangladesh's business sector. "In the future, no one will be able to operate a business without VAT registration," he said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
The briefing was arranged at the NBR headquarters in the capital to mark the National VAT Day and VAT Week.
To boost enrolment, the NBR will run a nationwide special VAT registration campaign from December 10 (today) to 31, targeting 100,000 new registrations this month.
This year, the VAT Week will be observed from December 10 to 15 under the theme "Register on Time, Pay VAT Accurately".
As part of its awareness campaign, the NBR has installed banners and placards across major roads and public areas, sent SMS alerts through mobile operators, and incorporated VAT-related messages into the city corporation and municipal utility bills.
Special registration camps have been set up in all VAT commissionerates to provide on-spot services to businesses and taxpayers.
The NBR chairman said a one-click VAT payment system was being introduced and several large companies were already using it.
He expected four million e-returns to be filed this year, noting that 2.2 million returns had already been submitted.
Work was underway to integrate bank information directly into the e-return system, eliminating the need for taxpayers to visit banks, he said. But he clarified that taxpayers' confidential banking data would remain inaccessible to revenue officials.
Regarding the government's decision to raise the revenue target by Tk 550 billion in the middle of the fiscal year, the NBR chairman acknowledged that achieving the revised target would be "challenging" but said higher targets naturally required greater efforts.
He stressed the NBR would avoid any form of harassment while intensifying measures to recover unpaid dues from habitual evaders.
The NBR will not present VAT awards this year as the relevant policy is under review.
NBR Member (VAT Policy) Md Azizur Rahman and other senior officials were present at the briefing.
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