Bangladesh Bank Reduces Fees for Online Tax Payments

In a directive issued on Wednesday, the central bank instructed all banks, mobile financial service providers (MFS), and payment service providers (PSP) to implement the new fee structure.

According to the directive, for transactions up to 25,000 taka, customers will now be charged a maximum of 20 taka per transaction. For transactions exceeding 25,000 taka, the maximum charge will be 50 taka per transaction. For transactions made through MFS or PSP wallets, customers will be charged a maximum of 1% or 30 taka per transaction. These fees include value-added tax (VAT).

The decision follows a request from the National Board of Revenue (NBR), which on October 27, wrote to Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdus Sattar, seeking a reduction in the fees for online tax payments. The NBR argued that the high fees were hindering the adoption of electronic tax filing.

Earlier, the fees for paying income tax through debit and credit cards were 1.6%. The NBR suggested that the maximum fee for online tax payments should be 20 taka.

Responding to a query, Hosne Ara Shikha, spokesperson and executive director of Bangladesh Bank, said that the new directive was issued in response to the NBR's request to reduce the burden on taxpayers.

To facilitate income tax filing and compliance for the current 2024-25 tax year, the NBR has opened the online tax filing system for taxpayers since September 9. The NBR's letter also mentioned the instructions of chief advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus to make online income tax filing easier and more convenient.

The slogan for e-filing is "Don't stand in line, file your return online." NBR officials expect 1.5 million returns to be filed online this fiscal year. Taxpayers can file returns online using their Tax Identification Number (TIN) and biometrically verified mobile number.

NBR Chairman Md. Abdur Rahman Khan said that the fee was indeed high and they had requested the Bangladesh Bank governor to reduce it to 20 taka.

Recently, the NBR has made online tax filing mandatory for government employees in four city corporations, officials of scheduled banks across the country, employees of mobile companies, and employees of Unilever Bangladesh, British American Tobacco, Marico, Berger Paints, Bata Shoe Company, and Nestle. Taxpayers can contact the NBR's call center at 09643717171 for any assistance.

NBR sources said that the NBR had introduced the online tax filing system in 2016 at a cost of 51 crore taka, but discontinued it in 2019 due to a lack of response from taxpayers. During the COVID-19 pandemic in November 2020, the NBR reintroduced a new system at a cost of 2 crore taka using its own manpower. This system is currently in operation. Currently, an income tax return receipt is mandatory to avail 47 types of government and non-government services.