Collect rent through banks: NBR

House owners must collect rent above Tk 25,000 through banks from now on.

The National Board of Revenue issued a circular on Tuesday to the effect, outlining the steps a house owner will have to take to do so.

The order said the landlords will have to give information on the account in which they collect the rent to the deputy tax commissioner and submit copies of transactions from that account with their income tax returns.

Owners renting their property for residential or commercial purposes and collecting a rent over Tk 25,000 from one or more tenants will come under this regulation.

The account can be in any scheduled bank and used for other transactions as well.

Tenants can pay in cash to the account or in cross-cheques. If the tenant makes cash payment to the owner, the owner will have to deposit the money to the account.

The owner may maintain a register to keep track if there are multiple tenants.

Joint owners of a property will have to open an account for rent collection if their individual income from rent exceeds Tk 25,000.