Bangladesh revenue and tax administration updates

In late September 2026, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) announced a special 5 percent tax rebate for taxpayers who filed their annual income tax returns by September 30, with the rebate capped at 25,000 BDT. The NBR specified that the discount applies only to the tax payable at the time of filing and does not cover taxes already paid through advance income tax or monthly deductions, a distinction that drew criticism from stakeholders.

By October 2026, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) announced plans to reactivate the National Equipment Identification Register (NEIR) to address an estimated annual revenue loss of Tk2,000 crore. The two-phase initiative, beginning January 1, 2027, aims to combat illegal handset production, smuggling, and unauthorized sales by using IMEI data to identify and block illegal devices and eventually verifying handset ownership to prevent fraud.

In late October 2026, the NBR initiated intensive tax collection drives following a Tk25,491 crore revenue shortfall during July and August, despite a growth target of 47 per cent for the upcoming fiscal period. To address this deficit, the NBR has been instructed to target one major industry each month through coordinated customs, value-added tax (VAT), and income tax enforcement. Following a focus on the pharmaceutical sector in September, another major sector was selected for October. This strategy comes as the government faces fiscal pressure from rising energy import costs, public-sector pay increases, and large-scale development projects, which has already led to the government borrowing approximately Tk24,245 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year.