Income tax laws in Bangla soon: NBR

Bangladesh will soon get income tax laws in Bangla for the convenience of taxpayers, and to this end, the National Board of Revenue will publish a draft law next month to gather public opinion.

NBR Member (Tax Policy) Md Alamgir Hossain made the disclosure at the inaugural programme of online tax application “digiTax” on Saturday, adding that taxpayers will now be able to prepare income tax returns and evaluate their assets automatically through the internet.

The web application – developed by Desh Universal – will also allow taxpayers to submit their returns, pay taxes and avail various income tax related services from the comfort of their home and without any hassle. Alamgir further said, “Citizens now have a bigger interest in paying income taxes, and the number of taxpayers is growing day by day. Sixty-one lakh people have registered for e-TIN so far.

“It is not possible to serve such a big number of taxpayers under the existing system. There is no alternative to making all tax-related services online, and building an automated return submission system.”

The NBR had launched this initiative long ago, and it introduced filing tax returns and making payment through the internet as part of this process, the revenue board member said, adding that digiTax will further simplify Bangladesh’s stride towards digitising tax related services.

At the event, the official said, “The NBR will observe the Income Tax Month which is starting from November 1. Under the event, the board is creating a festive environment so that taxpayers can submit their returns with ease and comfort.”

Meanwhile, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) President Mahmudul Hasan Khusru said, “Income tax laws are one of the toughest laws in the world, and it goes through changes every now and then. The digiTax deserves applauds for taking a big stride.

“Such an initiative would aid taxpayers, and encourage a large number of taxpayers to submit their returns. The revenue collection will go up too.”

Highlighting the main features of digiTax, its team member Syeda Nusrat Haider said, “The country has many taxpayers of different levels who do not know how to calculate income tax properly.

“As a result, they often cannot file returns properly. In order to resolve this, we have come up with a new system through which the users can prepare their returns with ease and comfort by inputting the require information.”

Haider mentioned that the system includes an automated calculating system in accordance with the law, which allows taxpayers to prepare their income tax returns. “Taxpayers can also use the software in Bangla,” she added.