The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has announced that more than four million taxpayers have filed their income tax returns online for the 2025-26 tax year.
This milestone represents the highest response to date following the NBR’s decision to make e-returns mandatory for most individual taxpayers this assessment year.
Under a special order, online filing is now compulsory for all individuals except those aged 65 and above, persons with disabilities, non-resident Bangladeshis, legal representatives of deceased taxpayers, and foreign nationals working in Bangladesh.
Since 4 August 2025, approximately five million taxpayers have registered with the e-return system, with over four million of them successfully completing their submissions.
This marks a significant increase from the previous tax year, when only 1,399,655 taxpayers filed electronically within the stipulated deadline.
Monthly filing trends reveal a massive surge in activity during the latter half of 2025, starting with 251,784 filings in August and peaking with 1,040,472 submissions in November and 978,198 in December.
The momentum has continued into early 2026, with 655,363 returns filed in January, 294,987 in February, and a further 36,700 recorded during the first four days of March.
Demographic, income distribution
Of the total returns filed, 2,866,618 were submitted by men and 1,136,003 by women. In terms of income sectors, 1,610,750 men and 478,566 women declared earnings from salaries, while 1,87,754 men and 84,477 women reported income from house property rentals.
Data regarding income levels shows that 1,435,630 men and 765,197 women reported earnings below the taxable limit. For higher brackets, 534,954 men and 193,837 women declared between five lakh and Tk10 lakh, while 1,64,983 men and 47,532 women earned between Tk10 lakh and Tk20 lakh.
Besides, 54,212 men and 11,455 women reported incomes between Tk20 lakh and Tk40 lakh, and 29,080 men and 5,117 women declared earnings exceeding Tk40 lakh. Additionally, 39,363 men and 11,065 women paid a surcharge because their total wealth exceeded the applicable threshold.
Simplified filing, compliance measures
The NBR highlighted that the digital system allows taxpayers to enter details of their income, expenditure, assets, and liabilities without the need to upload any supporting documents.
Payments can be made via debit or credit cards, internet banking, or mobile financial services such as bKash and Nagad. Upon submission, the system automatically provides an acknowledgement slip and an income tax certificate.
While e-filing is not mandatory for non-resident Bangladeshis, they can register and receive a one-time password (OTP) by emailing their passport number, national identity card details, and email address to the NBR’s designated electronic address.
Authorised representatives of taxpayers are also permitted to file online this year.
To ensure accuracy, the NBR allows taxpayers to file amended returns within 180 days of their initial submission if errors are identified, a facility already utilised by over 56,000 individuals.
The revenue board has been sending SMS reminders to individual taxpayers to encourage timely filing and avoid potential penalties. The final deadline for submitting online income tax returns for the 2025-26 tax year is 31 March 2026.
