Staff Reporter
Rtnn: The government has extended the last date for filing individual income tax to 31 January instead of the previously set deadline of 30 November.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) officially announced the extension on Wednesday (29 November).

For companies, the deadline has been extended to 28 February from the previous date of 15 January.

Till 27 November, the NBR has collected 19 lakh tax returns from citizens so far.

Returns can be submitted at any time throughout the year.

But if the return of the relevant income year is filed after the deadline, a penalty of 4% will be payable.

No tax fair was held this year, rather the NBR organised a nationwide special support service at the tax zone office premises to help taxpayers submit their income tax returns.

Also, taxpayers will not get any of the investment rebates they were supposed to get, so they will have to pay more tax.

According to relevant sources in the NBR, the ongoing political turmoil and changes in tax calculation under the new income tax act led to an extension of the time limit for tax return submission. 

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), the country's apex trade body, had requested an extension from the NBR for various reasons, including political unrest in the country. The tax lawyers' association has also submitted a request for an extension of the time limit.

Md Zafar Imam, joint commissioner of tax zone-5 in Dhaka, told The Business Standard, "With the provisions added in the new law, we hope to collect about 15% more tax returns this year than last year. In this tax zone, 86,000 tax returns were submitted last year, but as of 26 November, less than 40,000 have been submitted."

However, TBS did not receive any statistics from the NBR regarding the overall number of tax return submissions.

A senior field-level official told TBS, "The time should be extended. NBR may announce it on the last day."

30 November is the tax day, marking the final day for tax return submission. However, the NBR has extended the time even beyond this in the past, and paying tax within that extended period would not incur any penalty.

However, if a taxpayer has a valid reason, they can apply for a time extension from the Deputy Commissioner of Taxes (DCT) of the respective tax office. A penalty of 2% per month on the applicable tax would have to be paid if the income tax return is filed within that period.

But with the new income tax law, the opportunity to seek time has been abolished. Returns can be submitted at any time throughout the year. But if the return of the relevant income year is filed after 30 November, a penalty of 4% will be payable.

Besides, taxpayers will not get any of the investment rebates they were supposed to get, so they will have to pay more tax.

Many have questioned the rationale of such a provision in the Income Tax Act.

Currently, there are around 90 lakh Tax Identification Number (TIN) holders in the country, and out of them, 36 lakh have filed their tax returns.