This year, an alarmingly low number of companies have filed their annual income tax returns.
Out of over 250,000 registered businesses, a mere 13,066 companies, or just 6% of the total, have fulfilled their tax filing obligations for the current fiscal year.
Historically, around 35,000 to 40,000 companies submit their returns annually, highlighting a worrying downward trend in compliance.
Taxpayers are classified into two categories: individual and corporate taxpayers.
While the number of corporate taxpayers is smaller than individual ones, companies contribute significantly more in taxes.
According to sources from the National Board of Revenue (NBR), companies that have filed returns reported a total of Tk3,100 crore in corporate tax. These figures are based on returns submitted from 1 July to 16 February.
The deadline for companies to submit their returns has been extended twice, and will now end on 16 March. Typically, the submission period for corporate taxpayers runs from 1 July to 15 January each year.
Despite the availability of Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN) for most businesses, many fail to submit their annual income statements or tax returns.
While individuals benefit from tax-free income limits, no such exemption exists for companies, which are taxed based on their annual profits at applicable rates.
A 2021 report from NBR’s Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) revealed that nearly 80,000 companies failed to submit returns at that time, prompting a surge in TIN registrations.
However, this did not translate into a significant increase in return submissions.
For individual taxpayers, 3,973,757 returns were filed this year, yielding only Tk3,144 crore in tax revenue.
This deadline closed on Sunday, further underlining the challenges in achieving full tax compliance in both individual and corporate sectors.
