The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has asked its field offices to look into the tax profiles of members associated with local trade bodies, commercial organizations and associations -- whether they submitted their tax payments or not.
The revenue authority told its tax offices to collect submission proofs of their tax returns by January 30, 2023, as they were suspecting tax evasion by many such members.
In the Finance Bill 2022, the government has made proof of submission of tax return (PSR) mandatory to obtain and continue membership of trade bodies or professional organizations.
However, PSR is an acknowledgement receipt of a tax return that does not contain confidential or income or asset details of a taxpayer.
The NBR has sought members' lists of the apex chambers - the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and others.
In a recent letter signed by second secretary Nusrat Hassan, the NBR also sought members' directory of Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB), Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA), and the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (Amtob).
Tax officials say as per the income tax ordinance, all trade chambers were supposed to submit tax returns.
They also said many of the trade association members do not submit tax returns despite being well-off.
Currently, only 2.4 million taxpayers submit tax returns out of over 8 million TIN holders, while economists say many potential taxpayers remain out of the tax net.