NBR chief calls for decisive shift to full digitisation of revenue administration

Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Md Abdur Rahman Khan on Tuesday underscored the need for a decisive transition to full digitisation, saying a modern, technology-driven revenue administration is essential to enhance efficiency, transparency and taxpayer services.

He also mentioned that the launch of large-value corporate tax, VAT and TDS payments through mobile financial services marked a major leap forward in modernising revenue collection management.

Speaking at the inauguration of digital corporate tax and VAT payments via bKash, the NBR chairman said two successful real-time transactions had already been completed, proving the system's capability to handle high-value payments securely and efficiently.

"This initiative takes our digitisation efforts one step further. We want all tax payments to be digital because digital transactions bring multiple advantages-real-time settlement, accuracy, transparency and reduced risk," he said.

While individual taxpayers have long been able to make smaller payments through mobile financial services or card-based systems, corporate tax payments are often very large, sometimes ranging from Tk100 crore to Tk400 crore or more, the NBR chief said.

Enabling such payments through digital wallets and merchant accounts, he said, would significantly ease compliance for large taxpayers while strengthening revenue monitoring.

The NBR chairman said the platform has been kept open to all licensed mobile financial service providers, including Nagad, Rocket, CellFin and Upay, and expressed hope that more operators would actively facilitate large-value tax transactions.

Abdur Rahman added that there are no regulatory barriers from Bangladesh Bank or the Ministry of Finance in this regard.

Emphasising the broader benefits of digital payments, he said shifting away from cash would drastically reduce the risks associated with carrying large sums of money, including theft, fraud and violent crime.

"If money does not need to be physically carried, these risks simply do not exist," he observed.

He also highlighted the economic cost of cash usage, noting that Bangladesh spends around Tk20,000 crore each year on printing currency—an expense ultimately borne by the public. "Reducing cash transactions through digitisation will help lower this cost," he said.

A central pillar of the NBR's digitisation strategy, he said, is strengthening the electronic Tax Deducted at Source (e-TDS) system. By digitally capturing withholding tax data from banks, service providers and government entities, the NBR aims to close long-standing gaps between deducted tax and actual tax liabilities.

He explained that in many cases individuals pay tax at source at lower rates—such as 10–15 percent on bank interest—while their applicable marginal tax rate may be as high as 30 percent. "If these data flow automatically into the return system through e-TDS and banking integration, the government can legally collect the additional tax due."

The NBR plans to link all banking systems with online income tax returns so that key information—closing balances, interest income and deducted tax—will be auto-filled, reducing errors and scope for under-reporting.

The chairman reiterated the need to completely phase out manual challans and paper-based processes, arguing that partial digitisation has created serious inefficiencies.

He also expressed concern that despite the introduction of seven-digit economic codes in 2018, some revenues are still being deposited using outdated four-digit codes, hampering real-time reporting.

"There is no justification for continuing with old codes eight years after the new system was introduced," he said.

Outlining upcoming reforms, he said the NBR is working to enable bulk withholding tax payments through automated sub-challans, allowing employers to deposit tax for thousands of employees through a single digital challan by uploading structured data files.

To bring small and medium enterprises into the formal tax net, the NBR also plans to introduce a common software solution for small VAT-registered businesses, linking it directly with the e-VAT system to enable automated return submission.

He stressed that VAT is not a tax borne by businesses but collected from consumers on behalf of the government. "Businesses act as collecting agents, and digitisation will make this responsibility easier and more transparent," he said.

The NBR chairman said digital payments would ensure that government revenue reaches the exchequer in real time, eliminating long delays associated with pay orders and cheques, many of which in the past remained uncashed for months.

Calling for the complete abolition of pay orders and crossed cheques for tax payments, he said modern digital payment channels have made such instruments obsolete.

He said full digitisation of revenue collection would reduce tax evasion, eliminate fake challans, strengthen governance and significantly improve Bangladesh's tax-to-GDP ratio.

"With collective effort, we can build a transparent, efficient and technology-driven revenue system that benefits both taxpayers and the state," he added.