The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has asked the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) to ensure that all listed chambers, associations, and their members comply with the Income Tax Act, 2023, and the Finance Act 2022.
In a letter dated October 5, signed by Taxes Commissioner Kabir Uddin Mollah, the NBR mandated that trade bodies, associations, and educational institutions be treated as companies, requiring them to obtain a taxpayer identification number (TIN) and submit income tax returns.
The letter stressed that all members of these trade bodies and associations must provide proof of tax return submission, as per the Finance Act 2022. Many members were found to lack TINs or were non-compliant with tax return submissions.
The NBR requested FBCCI to ensure TIN registration, proof of return submission, and tax payment compliance for members of the apex trade body and all listed trade bodies and associations, totalling 485 in number, among the 523 chambers and associations under FBCCI. These organizations represent over 2,000 businesses.
Commissioner Kabir Uddin Mollah underlined the importance of extending the tax net and promoting a culture of tax return submission to meet the government's revenue collection target of Tk4.30 lakh crore for the financial year 2023-24, with a revenue target of Tk1.54 lakh crore for the income tax wing.
The NBR reported that, out of 4,39,599 individual and corporate TIN holders, only 30-35% of individual TIN holders submitted income tax returns annually over the past five years.
The data revealed that 40% of the registered public and private limited companies (1,08,360 out of 2,82,538) operated in the country without a TIN. Of the 1,67,135 corporate TIN holders, only 30,000 companies submitted tax returns annually, despite significant economic growth in the country during the same period.
