Return submission by individual taxpayers grew by a modest 21.74 per cent by the extended deadline in the current tax year, belying taxmen's expectation of a quantum leap.
Some 2.8 million taxpayers had submitted returns until the January 1, 2023-deadline by paying around Tk 41 billion in income taxes, according to National Board of Revenue (NBR) sources.
In the last tax year, around 2.3 million had submitted returns with Tk 32.81 billion paid as taxes until January 2, 2022. Return submission grew by 9.51 per cent.
However, officials said the number of tax returns would stand above 3.0 million by end of June 2023 as new taxpayers are allowed to submit returns without penalty this fiscal year.
A total of 250,000 taxpayers also have submitted applications seeking additional time for submitting return.
A senior tax official says those who sought time or failed to submit tax returns within the cut-off time have to pay 2.0-percent monthly interest on the amount of payable taxes with the returns.
He said the number of TIN holders was 7.6 million last year as of June 30, 2022 that jumped above 8.0 million this fiscal.
"Taxpayers who had obtained TIN until last FY would have to submit tax returns in the current FY as per Income Tax Ordinance 1984," he adds.
Last year, some 362,282 taxpayers sought additional time after the deadline was over.
The tax official mentions that the NBR has made return-submission process simpler by introducing a single-page form and also through launching online tax-return portal.
"Marginal taxpayers started filing tax returns online as it does not require physical visit to tax offices," he says.
Last year, 61,203 taxpayers submitted online tax returns while 69,745 prepared the online return using the app. Also, some 105,521 taxpayers registered on the eReturn site to avail online tax-return facility.
The government has made submission of proof of tax-return submission mandatory in the current FY for obtaining 38 types of services, in its bid to increase the number of taxpayers and revenue.
Economists are critical of low tax-GDP ratio in Bangladesh say many remain out of net, while existing ones are burdened with higher rates of tax to meet the revenue target.
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