Import-stage income tax credits to be auto-reflected in e-returns

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has introduced an automated system that allows advance income tax (AIT) paid at the import stage to be directly credited to taxpayers’ electronic returns.

This will ease a long-standing problem faced by importers and businesses, an NBR statement said yesterday.

The system has been launched following the integration of ASYCUDA (Automated System for Customs Data) World software with the NBR’s e-return platform, enabling real-time data sharing between customs and income tax systems. According to the NBR, AIT paid against imports will automatically appear as a credit in the taxpayer’s e-return from now on.

NBR said the move would significantly reduce delays, manual verification, and disputes over tax credits that importers have faced for years.

Under the new mechanism, when an importing taxpayer enters business income details in the e-return, bill-of-entry-wise information on advance income tax paid during the relevant income year will be automatically populated. The credited amount will then be adjusted against the taxpayer’s total income tax liability to determine the final payable amount.

The development comes at a time when taxpayers in Bangladesh continue to struggle with a slow and largely manual refund process, despite legal provisions requiring refunds to be issued within specific timeframes.

More than 46 lakh taxpayers have registered on the e-return system so far, while around 33 lakh have already filed their returns.

Notably, many taxpayers for whom online filing is not mandatory have also opted for the digital platform. Expatriates have also been brought under the system, with about 4,000 submitting their returns online.