In Bangladesh, the principal direct taxes are personal income taxes and corporate income taxes, and a value-added tax (VAT) of 15% levied on all-important consumer goods. The top income tax rate for individuals is 30%. For the 2019/20 tax year (July 1, 2019–June 30, 2020) the top corporate rate was 45%. However, publicly traded companies registered in Bangladesh are charged a lower rate of 30%. Banks, financial institutions and insurance companies are charged the 45% rate. All other companies are taxed at the 37.5% rate. Effective 1 July 2019, certain agricultural equipment and electricity supplied to the agricultural sector were exempted from VAT altogether. VAT on the transfer of land is also to be abolished. Essential agricultural implements and irrigation pumps had previously been excluded from certain taxes

Tax (definition)

To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levies upon a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law.

Simply we say Tax is a compulsory levy imposed by Government under specific Acts on persons or goods to defray expenditure for the common benefit of the citizen.

Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities. Taxes consist of direct tax or indirect tax and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent (often but not always unpaid labour). A tax may be defined as a “pecuniary burden laid upon individuals or property owners to support the government a payment exacted by legislative authority.” A tax “is not a voluntary payment or donation, but an enforced contribution exacted pursuant to legislative authority” and is “any contribution imposed by government whether under the name of toll, tribute, tillage, gable, impost, duty, custom, excise, subsidy, aid, supply, or other names.”

The legal definition and the economic definition of taxes differ in that economists do not consider many transfers to governments to be taxed. For example, some transfers to the public sector are comparable to prices. Examples include tuition at public universities and fees for utilities provided by local governments. Governments also obtain resources by creating money (printing bills and minting coins), through voluntary gifts (contributions to public universities and museums) by imposing penalties (traffic fines), by borrowing, and by confiscating wealth. From the view of economists, a tax is a non-penal, yet compulsory transfer of resources from the private to the public sector levied on a basis of predetermined criteria and without reference to specific benefit received.

In modern taxation systems, taxes are levied in money, but in-kind and curve taxation are characteristic of traditional or pre-capitalist states and their functional equivalents. The method of taxation and the government expenditure of taxes raised is often highly debated in politics and economics. Tax collection is performed by a government agency such as Canada Revenue Agency, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the United States, or Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the UK. When taxes are not fully paid, civil penalties (such as fines or forfeiture) or criminal penalties (such as incarceration) may be imposed on the non-paying entity or individual.

Tax Classifications

Direct tax:

A direct tax is a form of tax is collected directly by the government from the persons who bear the tax burden. Taxable individuals file tax returns directly to the government. Examples of direct taxes are corporate taxes, income taxes, and transfer taxes.

Indirect tax:

An indirect tax is a form of tax collected by mediators who transfer the taxes to the government and also perform functions associated with filing tax returns. The customers bear the final tax burden. Examples of indirect taxes are sales tax and value added tax (VAT).

There are other types of taxes, which may either be direct tax or indirect taxes, including capital gains tax, corporation tax, consumption tax, inheritance tax, property tax, excise duty, retirement tax, tariffs, wealth tax or net worth tax, toll tax, and the poll tax.

Purposes and effects

The money provided by taxation has been used by states and their functional equivalents throughout history to carry out many functions. Some of these include expenditures on war, the enforcement of law and public order, protection of property, economic infrastructure (roads, legal tender, enforcement of contracts, etc.), public works, social engineering, and the operation of government itself. Governments also use taxes to fund welfare and public services. These services can include education systems, health care systems, and pensions for the elderly, unemployment benefits, and public transportation. Energy, water and waste management systems are also common public utilities. Colonial and modernizing states have also used cash taxes to draw or force reluctant subsistence producers into cash economies.

Governments use different kinds of taxes and various tax rates. This is done to distribute the tax burden among individuals or classes of the population involved in taxable activities, such as business, or to redistribute resources between individuals or classes in the population. Historically, the nobility were supported by taxes on the poor; modern social security systems are intended to support the poor, the disabled, or the retired by taxes on those who are still working. In addition, taxes are applied to fund foreign aid and military ventures, to influence the macroeconomic performance of the economy (the government’s strategy for doing this is called its fiscal policy – see also tax exemption), or to modify patterns of consumption or employment within an economy, by making some classes of the transaction more or less attractive.

A nation’s tax system is often a reflection of its communal values or/and the values of those in power. To create a system of taxation, a nation must make choices regarding the distribution of the tax burden—who will pay taxes and how much they will pay—and how the taxes collected will be spent. In democratic nations where the public elects those in charge of establishing the tax system, these choices reflect the type of community that the public and/or government wishes to create. In countries where the public does not have a significant amount of influence over the system of taxation, that system may be more of a reflection on the values of those in power.

The resource collected from the public through taxation is always greater than the amount which can be used by the government. The difference is called the compliance cost and includes, for example, the labor cost and other expenses incurred in complying with tax laws and rules. The collection of a tax in order to spend it on a specified purpose, for example collecting a tax on alcohol to pay directly for alcoholism rehabilitation centers, is called hypothecation. This practice is often disliked by finance ministers since it reduces their freedom of action. Some economic theorists consider the concept to be intellectually dishonest since (in reality) money is fungible. Furthermore, it often happens that taxes or excises initially levied to fund some specific government programs are then later diverted to the government general fund. In some cases, such taxes are collected in fundamentally inefficient ways, for example, highway tolls.

Some economists, especially neo-classical economists, argue that all taxation creates market distortion and results in economic inefficiency. They have therefore sought to identify the kind of tax system that would minimize this distortion. Also, one of every government’s most fundamental duties is to administer possession and use of land in the geographic area over which it is sovereign, and it is considered economically efficient for the government to recover for public purposes the additional value it creates by providing this unique service.

Since governments also resolve commercial disputes, especially in countries with common law, similar arguments are sometimes used to justify a sales tax or value added tax. Others (e.g. libertarians) argue that most or all forms of taxes are immoral due to their involuntary (and therefore eventually coercive/violent) nature. The most extreme anti-tax view is anarcho-capitalism, in which the provision of all social services should be voluntarily bought by the person(s) using them.

The Four “R” s

Taxation has four main purposes or effects: Revenue, Redistribution, Repricing, and Representation.

The main purpose is revenue: taxes raise money to spend on armies, roads, schools, and hospitals, and on more indirect government functions like market regulation or legal systems.

A second is a redistribution. Normally, this means transferring wealth from the richer sections of society to poorer sections.

The third purpose of taxation is reprising. Taxes are levied to address externalities: tobacco is taxed, for example, to discourage smoking, and a carbon tax discourages the use of carbon-based fuels.

A fourth, consequential effect of taxation in its historical setting has been representation. The American revolutionary slogan “no taxation without representation” implied this: ruler’s tax citizens and citizens demand accountability from their rulers as the other part of this bargain. Studies have shown that direct taxation (such as income taxes) generates the greatest degree of accountability and better governance, while indirect taxation tends to have smaller effects.

Tax incidence

Law establishes from whom a tax is collected. In many countries, taxes are imposed on business (such as corporate taxes or portions of payroll taxes). However, who ultimately pays the tax (the tax “burden”) is determined by the marketplace as taxes become embedded into production costs. Depending on how quantities supplied and demanded to vary with price (the “elasticity’s” of supply and demand), a tax can be absorbed by the seller (in the form of lower pre-tax prices), or by the buyer (in the form of higher post-tax prices). If the elasticity of supply is low, more of the tax will be paid by the supplier. If the elasticity of demand is low, more will be paid by the customer. And contrariwise for the cases where those elasticities are high. If the seller is a competitive firm, the tax burden flows back to the factors of production depending on the elasticity’s thereof; this includes workers (in the form of lower wages), capital investors (in the form of loss to shareholders), landowners (in the form of lower rents) and entrepreneurs (in the form of lower wages of superintendence).

To illustrate this relationship, suppose the market price of a product is $1.00, and that a $0.50 tax is imposed on the product that, by law, is to be collected from the seller. If the product has an elastic demand, a greater portion of the tax will be absorbed by the seller. This is because goods with elastic demand cause a large decline in quantity demanded a small increase in price. Therefore, in order to stabilize sales, the seller absorbs more of the additional tax burden. For example, the seller might drop the price of the product to $0.70 so that, after adding in the tax, the buyer pays a total of $1.20, or $0.20 more than he did before the $0.50 tax was imposed. In this example, the buyer has paid $0.20 of the $0.50 tax (in the form of a post-tax price) and the seller has paid the remaining $0.30 (in the form of a lower pre-tax price).

Types of Taxes

Paying Taxes

Taxes are monies paid by citizens and residents to federal, state, and local governments. The money collected from these taxes helps fund services provided by the government. It is one of the main sources of government revenue. Types of taxes include income tax, sales tax, and property tax.

Income Tax

These are paid on a federal level and in some cases to state or local governments as well. “Taxable income” is essentially money obtained through wages, self-employment, and tips and from things like the sale of the property. The large majority of people pay their income taxes by having the money withheld from their paychecks. The proportion of income tax an individual is required to pay will vary according to earnings. Income tax rates are generally lower for those who make less money. However, any individual who earns an income, live in the United States and satisfies certain criteria is needed to file a tax return and also pay any taxes that they owe.

Social Security and Medicare taxes

These types of taxes are usually withheld from your paycheck. Social security benefits are provided for retired workers and their families, for disabled workers and their families and also for certain family members of deceased workers. Medicare (healthcare) taxes provide for medical services (this applies to people aged 65 and above). In the large majority of cases, a will qualify for Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare benefits after having served a period of 10 years (or 40 quarters) over the course of your life. However, in the case of disability benefits for you or your family, it is likely that you will require less than 10 years of work depending on your earnings.

Value Added Tax (VAT) or Sales Taxes

Sales taxes are more or less state or local taxes and usually added to the buying cost of certain things. These taxes will be based on the cost of items and help fund for services provided by state and local government, such as roads, police, and firefighters.

Property taxes

These are also state and local taxes that are charged on your home and land. In most situations, these property taxes contribute to the funding of local public schools and other services in the area person.

This is a concept summary. It aims to show how different types of taxes are categorized and to highlight the strong and weak points of each type.

The government is supported by resources drawn from the economy.  In return, the government protects the economy from foreign and domestic enemies, undertakes large-scale infrastructure works of general benefit, and enforces the rights, obligations, and bargains necessary for economic activity in a civil society.  In modern industrial society, a tax either claims a portion of the flow of value in economic transactions between people or takes a part of someone’s accumulated stock of economic value.

What is Income tax Return?

Income & Expenditure statement which also indicates the financial position (statement of Assets & Liabilities) at the end of the financial year of a person is called Income Tax Return.

Scope or Source of Income Tax Law:

In order to determine income tax on the income of an assessee in Bangladesh, certain provisions, rules, and regulations are necessary. They are the following:

The Income Tax Ordinance,1984:

The Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 came into force on 1^st July 1984 as Income Tax Manual, Part-I. It has 23 Chapters, 187 sections, numerous sub-sections and seven schedules containing provisions regarding assessment, penalty, appeal, etc. It also lays down the powers and duties of various income tax authorities.

Income Tax Rules, 1984:

Every Act/Ordinance normally gives power to an authority, responsible for the implementation of the Act/Ordinance to make rules for carrying out the purpose of the Act/Ordinance. Section 185 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 has given the power to the National Board of Revenue to make such rules named Income Tax Rules, 1984

Finance Act:

To give effect to the various proposals in the annual budget covering the areas of direct and indirect taxes, the Finance Act is issued. It contains various applicable tax rates and other amendments to the Income Tax Ordinance and Rules, 1984.

SRO (Statutory Regulatory Orders):

According to Section 185 of the Income Tax Ordinance1984, the National Board of Revenue can issues certain/circulars as and when necessary. The provisions of these SROs are also to be considered at the time of computing income tax like the provisions of income Tax Ordinance and Rules.

Judicial Decisions:

In the course of assessment proceedings, there may sometimes arise a dispute between the National Board of Revenue and the assessee over the interpretation of some of the provisions of the Ordinance and Rules. The assessee can go the court objecting to the National Board of Revenue’s interpretation, and the judgments given by the courts act as guidance to the assessing officers and the assesse in similar circumstances in the future.

Who is Assessee?

As per section under 2(7) of Income tax ordinance, 1984 Assessee means a person by whom any tax or other sum of money payable to government or tax authority under Income tax ordinance of 1984.

Computation of Income:

Section 20 of income tax ordinance, 1984 relating to Heads of Income:-

Section 20 of ITO 1984 defines various types of income chargeable to income tax in seven categories. Subsequent sections 21 to 34 provided details on how different categories of income shall be calculated and what deductions are allowed.

Save as otherwise provided in this Ordinance, all incomes shall, for the purpose of charge of income tax and computation of total income, be classified and computed under the following heads of incomes, namely:-

1. Salaries
2. Interest of securities
3. Income from house property
4. Agricultural Income
5. Income from business or profession
6. Capital Gains
7. Income from other sources;

Concept of income:

The concept of income in ITO 1984 is an inclusive definition but not exhaustive. It describes sources of income and prescribes the method of computation on income but it refrains from saying what is income. It is also important to note that the word ‘income’ used in ITO 1984 is not limited only to ‘profit or gains’ and hence in order to consider as income it is not necessary that it should constitute or provide a profit or gain to the assesse. Under the definition of Income as provided in section 2(34) of the ITO 1984, income includes;

• any income, receipts, profits or gains chargeable to tax as per ITO 1984; or
• any amount which is subject to collection or deduction of tax at source as per ITO 1984; or
• any loss of such income, profits or gains; or
• any amount on which a tax is imposed; or
• any amount which is treated as income under any provision of ITO 1984 (i.e. section 19).

The illegality of income does not exempt it from tax, the revenue shall not be concerned with the tainting of the illegality of income or its source.

Any income actual or deemed to accruing or arising or received in Bangladesh and or any amount on which a tax is imposed are also part of income.

Section 18 of ITO 1984 explains the situation when certain types of income are considered as income deemed to accrue or arise in Bangladesh.

Tax Rates

Income tax rates for various types of person and or various types of income, as well as a surcharge, are updated through the Finance Act which becomes effective from 1 July of each financial year. As per Section 183 of the Act is delayed previous rate or the rate proposed in the bill, whichever is beneficial to the assessee shall be applied.

Tax rates for individuals, etc.

No tax is payable by tax residents on income not exceeding TK 250,000. The following rates are applicable to the resident individual, Hindu undivided family, partnership firm, non-resident Bangladeshi, an association of persons and any other taxpayer including artificial judicial person created by the act=

Residents including non-resident Bangladeshi

*Initial exemption limit for women and senior citizens aged 65 years or over is TK 300,000 for physically challenged persons, it is TK 400,000 and for the gazette, war-wounded freedom fighters, it is TK 425,000.

In case of the parent/legal guardian of a physically challenged person, he/she will get a further initial exemption of TK 50,000 in addition to the above limit.

Nonresidents:

Nonresident other than Bangladeshi non-residents shall pay tax on the total income at the rate of 30%

Minimum tax payable:

Minimum tax payable is as follows depending on location of the assessee:

Dividend Income:

Dividend income received for individual assessee from the company listed with an exchange in Bangladeshi is tax exempted up to Tk 50,000.

Charge of surcharge:

The surcharge is payable by an individual assessee on total tax payable if the total net worth exceeds Tk 30 million as stated below:

However, the minimum surcharge will not be less than Tk 3,000 for option (a) above and not less than Tk 5,000 if net worth exceeds Tk 100 million.

However, if the total net wealth is Tk 500 million or more, a surcharge will be higher of the following:

1. 1% of the net wealth; and
2. 30% of surcharge on total

Rate for the owner of small or cottage industry

If an individual is the owner of a small or cottage industry situated in a less or least developed area and is engaged in manufacturing of products and derives income from such industries then he will be entitled to rebate on income derived from such industries at the following rates:

Tax rates applicable for owners of the motor car and jeep

Tax payable at the time of registration or renewal of fitness certificate for motor vehicles is:

Such advance tax shall not be collected from government, local government, any project under government, foreign diplomat, development partner, an educational institute under MPO, public university, gazette war-wounded freedom fighter and any letter issued by NBR to any institute.

However, if any assessee owns more than one motor vehicle self or jointly, then registration cost will be 50% higher for every subsequent registration. This shall be treated as advance payment of tax of the assessee. Moreover, such advance tax shall not be refundable.

Corporate tax rates

The rates of tax applicable to companies, banks, insurance, and other financial institutions:

However, 5% additional tax will be charged from 1 July 2020 if disabled persons are not provided with proper arrangements for movement at the place of service by a school, college, university, and NGO. On the other hand, a 5% tax rebate will be allowed if at least 10% of total employees constitute a disabled person.

Reduced rates of Corporate Tax applicable to certain industrial companies

 Reduced tax rates applicable to the local authority:

25% reduced tax rate will be applicable for the following local bodies:

All Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority

Capital gains tax

 Capital gains tax on the sale of shares of listed companies 

Capital gain from transfer of stocks and shares of public limited companies listed with stock exchange except listed Govt. securities:

Capital gains tax on the sale of stocks and shares of public limited companies listed with the stock exchange in respect of resident individual assessee shall be exempt from tax unless such residents fall in categories (c) and (d) above.

Capital gains tax other than the sale of shares of listed companies

In the case of a company, income from capital gains will be separated from total income and tax at 15% is payable on such capital gains regardless of the period of holding of the asset from the date of its acquisition.

In the case of an assessee other than a company, if the asset is transferred before the expiry of five years from the date of acquisition, the capital gains will be taxed at the usual rate applicable to the assessee’s total income including the capital gains. If the asset is transferred at any time after the expiry of five years from the date of its acquisition, the capital gains will be taxed at the usual rate applicable to the assessee’s total income including the capital gains or at the rate of 15% on the amount of capital gains whichever of the two is lower.

Tax on dividend/remittance of profit

A company paying dividends shall withhold tax at the rate of 20% on dividend payable to a company and at 10% (subject to furnishing 12-digit Tax Payer’s Identification Number) or 15% on dividend payable to a resident individual.

A company paying dividends shall withhold tax at the rate of 30% on dividend payable to any non-resident individual (other than a company).

If the stock dividend declared or distributed by a listed company exceeds the cash dividend in any income year, 10% tax on the whole amount of stock dividend will be applicable. Such tax cannot be adjusted with any other tax liability of the company. The provision is also applicable if any cash dividend is not declared or distributed in the income year.

A branch company shall withhold tax at the rate of 20% while remitting profit to Head Office.

However, in cases where the dividend is payable to a shareholder resident in a country with which Bangladesh has signed a tax treaty, the rate mentioned in the tax treaty will apply subject to confirmation/certification from NBR

Further, any distribution from a mutual fund or alternative investment fund would be subject to tax like dividends declared by a company.

Methods of Accounting

Section 35(3) of ITO 1984 requires every company as defined in the Companies Act 1913 or 1994 to submit trading account, profit and loss account  and the balance sheet in respect of that income year certified by a chartered accountant to the effect that the accounts are maintained and the statements are prepared and reported in accordance with International Accounting Standards and the International Financial Reporting Standards and are audited by in accordance with the Bangladesh Standards on Auditing. As per Section 35(4) only in case when a company has not complied with the requirements of subsection 35(3), a DCT can compute the income on such a basis and such manner he/she thing fit. So first he/she has to prove that non-compliance of Section 35(3) occurred. When revenues are supported by VAT return such revenues reported in trading/profit and loss accounts shall not be ignored by the DCT and use any other amount for calculation of minimum turnover tax.

Definition of person

As per Section 2(46) definition, “person” includes an individual, a firm, an association of persons, a Hindu undivided family, a trust, a fund, a local authority, a company, an entity, and every other artificial juridical person.

Tax on retained earnings

A company (listed in stock exchange) shall pay tax at the rate of 10% on the total amount transferred to retained earnings or any fund, reserve or surplus if such amount exceeds 70% of the net profit/income after tax in the income year.

Applicability of tax rates

All rates quoted from 2.1 to 2.6 will apply for the assessment year 2019-2020 unless stated otherwise.

Charge of additional tax

The additional tax will be charged to the employer who employs or allows an individual not to be a Bangladeshi citizen to work at his business or profession without prior approval of BIDA or any other competent government authority. This additional tax is higher of 50% of the tax payable on his income or Tk 500,000.

Filing of tax return

• Filing of tax return is compulsory for every person who:
• in a fiscal year earns total income from all sources exceeding the minimum threshold;
• was assessed for tax for any one of the three years immediately preceding that income year;
• is a company; or a non-government organization registered with NGO affairs bureau or co-operative society or a firm or an association of persons or a shareholder director or shareholder-employee of a company, partner of a firm, an employee of the government or an authority corporation, body or units of the government who draws a basic salary of Tk 16,000 or more at any time during the income year, an employee holding an executive or a management position in a business or profession; a Micro Credit Organization having a license with Micro Credit Regulatory Authority; a non-resident having a permanent establishment in Bangladesh; or
• is subject to tax exemption or lower tax rate except not being an institution established solely for a charitable purpose or a fund;
• at any time during the relevant income year fulfills any of the following conditions:
• owns a motor car, owns membership of a club registered under any law governing value added tax.
• runs any business or profession having obtained a trade license from any City Corporation, pourashava or /and operates a bank account;
• has registered with a recognized professional body as a doctor, lawyer, income tax practitioner, chartered accountant, cost and management accountant, engineer, architect or surveyor or any other similar profession;
• is a member of a chamber of commerce and industry or trade association;
• Runs for an office of any pourashava, city corporation or a Member of Parliament;
• participates in a tender floated by the government, semi-government, autonomous body or local authority;
• Serves in the board of directors of a company or group of companies;
• Participates in a ride-sharing arrangement by providing motor

However, a return of income shall not be mandatory for-

1. An educational institution receiving government benefits under Monthly Payment Oder (MPO); or
2. a public university; or
3. a fund; or
4. a non-resident, not being a non-resident individual, having no permanent establishment in Bangladesh; or
5. a non-resident individual having no fixed base in Bangladesh; or
6. Any class of persons which the Board, by order in the official gazette, exempt from filling the