NBR Registers 131,000 New VAT Payers in December

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has added around 131,000 new Value Added Tax (VAT) registrants nationwide during December, following a special countrywide drive to bring unregistered businesses into the VAT system.

As part of the initiative, the NBR marked VAT Day on December 10 and observed VAT Week from December 10 to 15, 2025, under the slogan “Register on Time, Pay VAT Properly.” During this period, the revenue authority set a goal of registering 100,000 businesses that were previously outside the VAT net between December 10 and December 31.

Officials said the target was surpassed due to intensive awareness programmes and on-the-ground surveys carried out daily by all 12 VAT commissionerates, including on public holidays. By the end of December, a total of 131,000 new VAT registrations had been completed.

According to an NBR press statement, the total number of VAT-registered entities stood at about 516,000 before the interim government took office. With the latest additions, the figure has now risen to approximately 775,000.

The NBR noted that VAT continues to be the single largest source of government revenue among customs duties, VAT and income tax. In the previous fiscal year, VAT accounted for nearly 38 percent of total revenue, highlighting the scope for further growth by expanding the VAT base.

To widen coverage, the government has revised the VAT law, lowering the mandatory registration threshold to businesses with annual turnover above Tk 50 lakh, compared to the earlier limit of Tk 3 crore.

The revenue authority has also introduced several measures to ease compliance, including simplified online VAT registration, electronic payment of VAT to the treasury, digital submission of returns through the eVAT system, and automated refunds of excess VAT directly to taxpayers’ bank accounts. Plans are also underway to roll out simpler VAT return formats for small enterprises.

The NBR urged consumers, business owners, industrial groups and the media to continue supporting efforts to establish a modern, technology-driven VAT system aimed at strengthening Bangladesh’s path toward economic self-reliance and prosperity.