TBT DESK: The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has initiated a move to track down owners of land, flats and buildings across the country to widen the country's narrow tax net.
The move comes as more than two-thirds of income tax return submissions fall below the taxable threshold of Tk 3.5 lakh, according to NBR data.
As per the law, people with an annual income below this threshold are exempt from paying income tax.
Currently, the number of Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) holders in the country stands at over 1.15 crore. However, only slightly more than 40 lakh of them submitted their income tax returns.
Among these, a significant portion reported income below the taxable limit.
Under existing law, having a TIN is mandatory for purchasing land, buildings or flats in Bangladesh.
Both buyers and sellers of property valued above Tk 1 lakh within city corporations, cantonment boards and municipalities at district headquarters must have TINs, as stipulated in the Finance Bill.
The twelve-digit electronic TINs (E-TINs) of both parties must be included in the deed documents during the registration process of such properties.
"So, for the sake of the revenue collection, we have taken the move to chase these owners of land, buildings and flats," a senior official of the NBR told.
He acknowledged that the revenue authority had previously fallen short in pursuing these property owners for tax purposes."We are ready to strike this sector from now on," he added.
NBR has instructed tax commissioners to bring all eligible individuals and organisations under the tax net and work to eliminate fears surrounding the tax process.
The Board also directed its offices to intensify tax surveys and reactivate dormant TINs as submission of income tax returns has been made mandatory for every TIN holder.
The Income Tax Wing has issued guidelines to field offices instructing them to collect taxpayer information from city corporations, Rajuk, sub-registrar offices and other relevant authorities.
This effort, known as "internal survey," involves collecting secondary data - information already held by various institutions.
The NBR has extended this survey to the upazila level, targeting potential taxpayers through secondary data gathering. For example, an official may identify potential taxpayers from an employer's staff list.
"This is called an internal survey," the senior NBR official explained.
Initially, the focus is on gathering data from trade licences issued by city corporations and municipalities. TINs will then be issued to these businesses to bring them under the tax net.
Besides, the NBR is obtaining data from the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) for foreign nationals, the BRTA for vehicle owners, sub-registry offices for land transactions, power distribution companies, and service providers.
Information on flat and house ownership is also being collected from the National Housing Authority.
"We hope that this'll help us raise revenue collection," the NBR official added.
NBR sources said board officials are also conducting door-to-door surveys to identify new taxpayers.
To further this initiative, NBR has signed data-sharing agreements with various agencies, including BRTA, power distribution companies, the Department of National Savings and BIDA.
According to NBR data, income tax collection till May 2025 stood at Tk 1,14,924 crore, while actual collection was Tk 85,428 crore.