The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is building a team of tax aides, known as tax return preparers (TRPs) for increasing return submissions and preventing evasions that forfeit many state services to the defaulters.
Officials said the NBR decided to introduce the new provision in the Income Tax Ordinance to facilitate marginal taxpayers in preparing and filing tax returns.
The new provision may be introduced in the budget for the upcoming FY24, as they said the commoners cannot afford to take services of the existing tax aides.
TRP is a popular concept worldwide, including in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), USA, to support taxpayers in preparing tax returns under the authorization of revenue administration of the respective country.
However, they are different from tax professionals who have different types of expertise, skills and education.
Representation rights, on behalf of taxpayers, before the revenue authority may differ between the tax professionals and TRP.
The TRPs would help those who are compelled to submit tax returns for having taxpayer identification number (TIN), or for availing services, but are unable to pay high charges of tax professionals, officials said.
Sources said the TRPs will also prepare tax returns for the people who remained out of the tax net in growth centers.
Officials said the list of services that fall under mandatory tax-return-submission criteria might be lengthened in the upcoming budget, to hook more people onto the tax net.
A lower-than-expected tax-GDP ratio in Bangladesh has been a topic of discussion in circles of analysts and international development financiers.
Currently, the NBR has given licences to around 10,000 Income Tax Professionals (ITP) who prepare tax returns on behalf of taxpayers and offer other legal support to the taxpayers as their representatives.
