Income tax return filing goes online from next year

Income taxpayers will be able to file their returns online from next year, says the National Board of Revenue.

Chairman Ghulam Hussain said on Sunday a project had been launched to introduce online returns submission service.

FTP Information System Corporation, a Vietnam-based company, will implement the project with the financial assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Inaugurating the project in the afternoon, Hussain said after launch of the service, taxpayers will not be required to go through the present returns submission process and can pay the tax at any bank branch.

“Taxpayers can file their income tax returns online from September next. But it (the service) will be launched in a fully fledged way in Jan, 2016 at any rate. There will be no scope to submit returns in the present process after the launch of the full-fledged service,” he said.

The NBR chairman added: “Presently tax has to be paid only at Sonali Bank. But after the launch of the service, arrangements will be made so that taxpayers can clear their tax through debit or credit cards of any bank.”

The NBR chief expects income tax collection would double in the next four years if ‘this system is successful’.

Hussain said presently 1.8 million people had income tax files though around 6 million were able to pay tax.

“Income tax collection marked 109 percent growth in the last five years. That’s why it (increase in income tax) will be possible.”

He said purview of ‘withholding tax’ should be increased and an NBR member would lead implementation of the project.

The revenue board said online returns filing would be introduced in seven to eight big tax areas, including Dhaka and Chittagong, on a pilot basis and later across the country.

Earlier, NBR introduced online duty collection system.

Hussain said another project would be introduced later to facilitate online VAT payment.