The number of tax returns submitted surged 40 percent year-on-year to 11.44 lakh in the July-November period owing to rising interest of people to pay tax and the various measures taken by the authority to increase compliance.
During the period, tax collection stood at Tk 3,335 crore in contrast to Tk 1,083 crore a year earlier, according to the National Board of Revenue.
“The spontaneous participation of taxpayers shows that the tie between taxpayers and the NBR is deeper now than ever,” said its Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman in a statement.
Some 151,889 taxpayers applied for additional time to prepare and submit their income and wealth statements for fiscal 2016-17.
Taking into consideration the applications for additional time, the total count of returns submission is on track to being the highest in the last decade.
The NBR figures show that the number of filed returns has been rising gradually along with the number of registered taxpayers for the last several years.
The number of registered taxpayers stood at 24.41 lakh on November 30, up from 19.79 lakh on June 30 this year.
The rule that mandates returns submission for public sector employees with basic salary of Tk 16,000 or higher is one of the reasons behind the spiral in returns submission and in TINs this year, said a senior official of the NBR.
Worries about problem in getting salaries among public sector employees also fuelled returns submission after the NBR tightened measures.
The tax administration issued a notice on November 24 making it mandatory for those who draw at least Tk 16,000 in monthly basic salaries to submit proof of submission of tax returns or of time petitions along with their bills for each month from January to June 2017.
The tax authority also requested the Controller General of Accounts for examining the documents during salary payment.
Through a budgetary measure, the Taxpayer Identification Number has been made mandatory for private sector employees whose basic salary is at least Tk 16,000 per month.
The NBR said employers will have to ensure that their employees have TINs. If employers fail to do so, the salary payment that they have made will be treated as income and will be taxable.
Tax fairs and awareness campaigns by the NBR have also encouraged compliance, said the NBR official.
“There has also been an improvement in the overall environment. We see many taxpayers have signed up -- it appears that people are becoming __more conscious, which is in line with the economic development of the country.”
The official expects the number of tax return filers to rise further as many public sector employees did not apply for time extension until the November 30 deadline. This year, the deadline for filing income tax returns by individuals was November 30, which was also observed as the Tax Day for the first time in the country.
The Tax Day marked the end of the official deadline for return submission without extension -- an initiative of Finance Minister AMA Muhith with a view to ending the culture of time extension.
The NBR official said many public sector employees are still not aware that they will face difficulty in getting salary in the coming month if they do not submit returns. When they come to know about this, the number of returns filers might soar to 15 lakh at the end of January, he added.