NBR to observe VAT Day tomorrow
Officials said improving VAT administration and expanding automation will help sustain this upward trend, strengthening the nation's fiscal foundation.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is set to observe VAT Day tomorrow (10 December) and VAT Week from 10 to 15 December, highlighting the importance of timely registration under this year's theme, "Register on Time, Pay VAT Accurately."
To reinforce the message, the revenue authority is launching a nationwide special VAT registration campaign from 10 to 31 December, aiming to bring some 100,000 new businesses under the VAT net. Currently, the country has 6.44 lakh VAT-registered entities.
According to the NBR, VAT accounted for 38% of its total revenue collection in the last fiscal year. During the first five months of the current fiscal year, VAT receipts grew by 22% compared to the same period a year ago, says an NBR press release.
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Officials said improving VAT administration and expanding automation will help sustain this upward trend, strengthening the nation's fiscal foundation.
The NBR emphasised that revenue paid by the public plays a crucial role in national development. The collected taxes finance the Annual Development Programme (ADP) and support key sectors such as education, healthcare, road and rail infrastructure, debt servicing, social protection, agriculture, and subsidies in the power and industrial sectors, it added.
Despite progress, the VAT collection system faces several challenges, including unregistered businesses, limited automation, weak enforcement of the input tax credit chain, excessive exemptions, manual audit practices and difficulties in collecting VAT from e-commerce and digital platforms.
To overcome these obstacles, the NBR said it has expanded digital services such as online VAT registration, online return filing, e-payment, e-refund, e-audit and e-invoicing, and introduced a risk-based audit system to curb VAT evasion.
The VAT Smart Invoice has also been rolled out to enhance transparency and compliance.
The NBR reiterated that its primary goal is to ensure voluntary compliance and reduce tax evasion. The authority said that achieving the national vision for a developed and prosperous Bangladesh requires a strong, efficient VAT system.
It called for active cooperation from consumers, businesses, industry owners and the media to make VAT administration more effective.
