Bangladesh to lift income tax return exemption for NRBs, digital service providers

The finance minister has proposed withdrawing the provision of exempting expatriate Bangladeshis and digital service providers from submitting income tax returns.

Presenting the FY 2022-23 budget on Thursday, AHM Mustafa Kamal said. “One of the major challenges in tapping revenue in this era of globalised economic activities is to collect proper taxes from non-resident taxpayers and digital service providers, and to make them follow the rules and regulations strictly.”

“…I propose to withdraw the provision of exemption from submission of income tax return for those not having any permanent establishment in Bangladesh,” he said.

The minister suggested that the National Board of Revenue “formulate proper rules defining the scope and areas of income and exemption of non-residents to ensure proper collection of revenue from them”.

He also proposed to mandate presenting proof of submission of return in cases where a person earns from Bangladesh through digital presence.