National Board of Revenue chairman Abdur Rahman Khan on Tuesday said that the NBR was exploring ways to integrate online tax returns with banking system.
He also said that if they could implement it, it would allow seamless tracking of bank deposits, profits and taxpayers鈥� corresponding tax liabilities.
Moreover, if they can access company data from Central Depository Bangladesh Limited, it will help them find tax-related issues efficiently, he said.
He made the comment at a discussion with businesses for the forthcoming budget of the 2025-26 financial year at the NBR office in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday.
In the discussion, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Taskeen Ahmed urged the government to raise the tax-free income limit for an individual from TK 3.50 lakh to TK 5 lakh by considering the prevailing inflationary situation in the upcoming budget of FY26.
He also urged the introduction of a unified VAT rate of 10 per cent from the existing different slabs of 10 per cent, 7.5 per cent, and 5 per cent in different sectors, which actually caused difficulties for traders and disputes in many cases.
The DCCI also proposed setting a nominal 1 per cent VAT for informal sector traders in the next budget.
They also urged the NBR to launch a mobile app and a website to collect VAT.
The DCCI also proposed reducing tax at sources and abolishing advance tax in phases, such as from the existing 3 per cent to 2 per cent, then 1 per cent, and then zero.
The Bangladesh Cold Storage Association proposed reducing AIT by 1 per cent on the purchase of potatoes and withdrawing VAT and AIT on the purchase of cold storage equipment.
The Bangladesh Agro-Processors鈥� Association proposed an exemption from withholding tax on the supply of agricultural products, abolishing the minimum income tax of 0.6 per cent on sales and reducing the standard VAT rate.
The Bangladesh Crop Protection Association proposed reducing the tax rate on the import of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, mosquito coils, aerosols, and repellents.
The Shrimp Hatchery Association of Bangladesh demanded the withdrawal of advance income tax and import duty on exporting SPF Bagda and Venami shrimp.
The Bangladesh Paint Manufacturers Association proposed withdrawing a 10 per cent supplementary duty on paints and paint products, considering them essential for local production.
Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance proposed merging lower-grade and middle-grade cigarettes and fixing the price at Tk 90 per 10-stick packet. They also proposed keeping the price of higher-grade cigarettes unchanged at Tk 140 per 10-stick pack and hiking the price of premium-grade cigarettes to Tk 190 per 10-stick pack.