The number of electronic tax return filings in Bangladesh has surged to over 5 lakh since July, more than double the previous year’s figure, according to the National Board of Revenue (NBR). 

The NBR said in a statement that between July 1 and November 24 of the current fiscal year, individual taxpayers filed 2.17 lakh returns electronically. Additionally, 12.5 lakh taxpayers have registered for the e-filing system.

The NBR relaunched its e-filing portal on September 9, with improvements to make it more user-friendly. The system allows taxpayers to download and print submitted returns, acknowledgment receipts, tax certificates, and other documents. Payments can now be made using cards, internet banking, and mobile financial services.

To encourage wider adoption, the tax authority has made online filing mandatory this year for specific groups, including government officials in Dhaka, Narayanganj, and Gazipur tax zones and bankers and employees of certain multinational firms.

The NBR also offers round-the-clock support via call centers and email and has trained 2,400 taxpayers to use the system.

In the previous assessment year (2023-24), the NBR received 5 lakh e-returns. This year, it aims to double that number to 10 lakh. However, while Bangladesh has over 10 million registered taxpayers, only 44 lakh filed tax returns in the last assessment year.