Bangladesh’s export sector is showing signs of steady recovery, overcoming disruptions caused by the political turmoil in July and August that led to the ouster  of the Awami League government. According to data from the National Board of Revenue (NBR), export earnings in October surged by approximately 19 per cent compared to the same period last year. Goods worth $15.88 billion were exported in the first four months of the current 2024-25 fiscal year, marking an increase of about 11 per cent compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. In October alone, Bangladesh exported goods valued at $4.13 billion—$650 million or 18.68 per cent more than the corresponding month last year. During July, August and September, the country’s export earnings stood at $3.82 billion, $4.07 billion and $3.86 billion respectively. Bangladesh Bank data indicates that export earnings for the first three months of the current fiscal year amounted to $11.66 billion, a 7.62 per cent increase from last year’s $10.83 billion. Export earnings during the July-August period were $7.85 billion. Knitwear exports during the July-September period amounted to $5.35 billion, an 8.25 per cent increase from the $4.94 billion recorded in the same period last year. Woven garment exports rose by 7.33 per cent to $4.16 billion compared to $3.88 billion in the previous year. NBR plans online tax reforms to simplify process for taxpayers Exporters attributed the recent rebound to delayed shipments of orders that had been stuck due to labour unrest, the quota reform movement, and student uprisings during July-September. Many of these pending orders were shipped last month, several exporters told UNB.  They added that the seasonal demand for winter and Christmas-related products also contributed to the rise in exports, which increased in both value and quantity. A senior official of the Newage Group confirmed that their factories are operating at full capacity. “We are booked until June 2025, and hopefully other factories are performing similarly,” he said, emphasising that securing work orders depends on reputation, quality, and compliance standards. An official document suggests that Bangladesh may witness further growth in export volumes, driven by shifts in global trade dynamics. The World Trade Organization (WTO) forecasts that despite a contraction in global trade in 2023, merchandise trade volumes are expected to grow by 2.6 per cent in 2024 and 3.3 per cent in 2025. NBR to gradually rationalise 60 tariff lines by 2026 The recovery is expected as inflation subsides, encouraging consumers to purchase more goods. Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs) are projected to experience faster export growth than advanced economies.  The Eurozone, which suffered a significant contraction in 2023, is predicted to recover gradually with export growth of approximately 3 per cent from 2025 onwards. Bangladesh’s export growth, which slowed from 8.79 per cent in 2023 to an estimated 3.93 per cent in 2024, is expected to rebound, reaching 8.83 per cent by 2027. China’s export growth is forecast to remain moderate, ranging between 1.8 per cent in 2025 and 2.85 per cent in 2026, while India’s exports are projected to recover strongly from a contraction of -2.76 per cent in 2023 to approximately 4 per cent in 2025. In contrast, the UK is expected to see subdued export growth, with contractions in 2023 and 2024, followed by modest growth rates below 2 per cent until 2027.  Meanwhile, the US is projected to maintain a stable export growth rate of around 3 per cent throughout 2024-27. As exports recover, Bangladesh’s imports are also expected to rebound in the medium term. According to the IMF, Bangladesh’s import volume growth is projected to recover sharply from a contraction in 2023 to moderate growth of 4.1 per cent in 2024 and robust growth of approximately 18 per cent in 2025. 10.50 lakh complete registration for online tax payment so far: NBR However, country-specific dynamics reveal varied trajectories. For instance, China’s import growth is expected to decline to 3.4 per cent in 2024 and 0.9 per cent in 2025.  Meanwhile, India’s import growth is forecast to accelerate from 4.8 per cent in 2024 to 6.6 per cent in 2025 and beyond. Import growth in advanced economies such as the UK and the US is expected to remain low, with the UK even projected to experience negative growth in 2025.

National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan has warned that tougher steps will be taken to address gold smuggling, streamline tax procedures and ensure fair pricing of essential goods. Speaking at a press briefing after inaugurating a passenger service help desk at the airport customs on Sunday, the chairman underscored discrepancies in the volume of gold within the country compared to its official import records. "This imbalance must be brought under regulatory frameworks. Any aircraft found to be facilitating gold smuggling will face stringent actions, including bans and the revocation of route permits," he said. Enhanced Taxpayer Services The chairman announced plans to launch a mobile application next year for submitting tax returns, marking a step toward complete automation of the tax payment process. He emphasised reducing direct interactions between tax officials and taxpayers to minimise complications. Bangladesh Bank provides liquidity guarantee of Tk 6,585 crore to 7 banks To make tax payments more accessible, debit and credit card transactions have been facilitated. "For payments below Tk 25,000 via cards, the processing fee will be Tk 20, while for amounts above this threshold, the maximum fee will be Tk 50." He also noted that all corporate tax returns would be brought online by next year. Price Regulation and Tariff Adjustments Ahead of Ramadan, the NBR focuses on keeping prices of key commodities stable. The chairman assured that steps are being taken to ensure reasonable prices for potatoes, onions, and sugar. To further ease consumer burden, he said, the government is set to reduce duties on dates shortly. He pointed out that sugar prices are now within reach, thanks to a double reduction in tariffs, and import duties on eggs have already been lowered. However, rising international prices for soybean and palm oil have pushed edible oil prices higher in local markets. Shortfall in NBR’s revenue collection continues in first 4 months of FY25 Ensuring Passenger Convenience Addressing concerns about passenger harassment at airports, the chairman stated that authorities are prioritising preventive measures. "Any complaints regarding customs services will be resolved immediately. Unfortunately, many citizens are unaware of their rights and hesitate to report issues," he said. To make the complaint process more accessible, passengers can now lodge grievances online. "Services provided by customs are entitlements, not favours. Complaints submitted online will be addressed promptly," the chairman assured.

The Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has frozen all bank and Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI) accounts belonging to ex-chief of the Detective Branch of police, Harun ur Rashid and his family members, excluding minor children. A letter in this regard has been given to the top executives of all banks and financial institutions. The relatives are- Harun’s wife Shireen Akter; Mother Jahura Khatun; Brothers ABM Shahriar and Ziaur Rahman; Father-in-law Farid Uddin Ahmed and relative Samraj Mia. Case filed against DB Harun, Biplob Kumar for beating up BNP leader Zainul Abdin Farroque in 2011 The Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) officials of NBR are investigating the tax evasion charges against Harun and his family members. Apart from the assets, income and expenses shown in their income tax documents, whether they have any other income and assets will also be looked into. As part of this, their bank accounts have been seized. CIC officials said action will be taken as per law against Harun and his family members and relatives if tax evasion is found.

The five-member Advisory Committee formed to propose positive reforms in National Board of Revenue (NBR) is likely to start its activities from next week although there is some confusions among the members regarding their facilities for work and jurisdiction. On Wednesday the interim government through a gazette notification formed the five-member committee comprising two former NBR chairmen and three former NBR members. The ex-chairmen are- Muhammad Abdul Mazid and Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed while three former members are— M Delowar Hossain, Farid Uddin and Aminur Rahman. As per the gazette, the advisory committee will advise on fiscal policy reforms, revenue administration reforms, assess the institutional capacity of the National Board of Revenue and provide recommendations for modernisation, advise on formulation of institutional frameworks and policies for integrity and good governance, advise on citizen communication and stakeholder engagement activities and any other policy advice related to revenue reforms. NBR reduces regulatory duty on sugar imports by 50% to stabilize prices National Board of Revenue (Board Administration) member shall perform the secretarial duties of the committee. But there is no time limit for the committee to complete its task. Also there is no indication to whom the committee would submit their proposals and what will be the legal framework of its proposals, according to sources involved in the process. It also does not indicate who will lead the committee. Talking to UNB on condition of anonymity a member of this committee alleged that without any leader who will lead the team. “To whom the member secretary would listen regarding any issue, like calling the meeting,” he said. He mentioned that the other committees that have been formed by this government to bring reforms in various sectors have their respective offices and staffs. “Where will we sit for the meeting or our regular works?,” he asked. He also said there is no clarity about the duration of the committee.  “This committee can not run for an infinite time. Every other reently committee has its specific timeframe to work,” he added. He also said that these fundamental issues should be there for the members to work properly. The member of the committee hoped that the government would give a clarification very soon regarding this advisory committee. NBR forms task force to reform income tax law The interim government was formed on August 8 after the overthrow of the Sheikh Hasina government in a student-led mass movement on August 5. It has undertaken various reforms mesures in various fields. As a part of this, the NBR reform advisory committee has been formed. Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed during his recent visists to the NBR asked its officials not to collect taxes forcefully from the taxpayers, rather widen the net of revenue collection. He put emphasis on depositing the taxes in the national exchequer without any pilferage.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will install 10,000 Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) in Dhaka, Chattogram and other big cities in the fiscal year 2022-23 in a bid to prevent Value Added Tax(VAT) evasion. Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the proposed budget of 2022-23 kept an allocation to install EFDs in different chain and super shops. Also read: NBR slaps additional duty on 135 luxury items to discourage import EFD is an improved version of Electronic Cash Register or ECR, which is imported by the NBR. If EFD is used in business, VAT money will be automatically transferred to the main server of NBR. In this system, the traders cannot hide the sale information and the real information of daily transactions will be transferred to the NBR server which will help to reduce fraud, NBR sources  said. In the budget speech, the finance minister said, "In order to increase revenue collection in various types of retail and wholesale businesses, two years ago, in the budget of 2020-21, for the first time, a state-of-the-art electronic fiscal device system was introduced." Since then 4,595 machines have been installed. A total of 10,000 EFD machines are planned to be installed in various businesses by June 2023. "We are in the process of setting up the machine through outsourcing as well as keeping the programme running. As a result of this step, I hope that the collection of VAT will reach the desired level by 2026,” he added. In this year's budget, the target for total revenue collection through NBR is Tk 3.70 lakh crore. Of this, Tk1.36 crore will come from VAT, which is 37 percent of the total collection. Also read:Income Tax Wing of NBR racing to meet target in last 4 months of fiscal Officials at the NBR's VAT department said huge amounts of VAT are evaded at the retail and wholesale levels. Revenue earning will be increased all retail and wholesale businesses are brought under the machine system, they said.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has imposed addtional duty on 135 foreign products - from fruits to flowers - to discourage their imports and ease pressure on forex reserves. The NBR notification stated that 20 per cent regulatory import duty has been slapped on over135 HS-coded products such as foreign fruits, foreign flowers, furniture and cosmetics effective from Monday. Also read: Income Tax Wing of NBR racing to meet target in last 4 months of fiscal The much anticipated move is likely to discourage import of the expensive products and ease the pressure on foreign exchange reserves.                                                                         The revenue authority said said Bangladesh is doing well in flower and fruit cultivation. The additional import duty will help flower and fruit growers get fair price. The new regulatory duty applies to the following: Flower and flower products: Any type of imported flowers, fresh and dried, imported flowers for making ornaments, various types of artificial flowers and tree saplings or tree branches. Fruits include: Fresh or processed mango, banana, grape, fig, pineapple, avocado, guava, mangosteen or cabbage, lemon, watermelon, plum, apricot, cherry fruit, frozen or processed fruit seed and mixed fruit food. Imported bamboo for furniture, parts, cane furniture and various imported materials for furniture. Also wooden furniture used in office, kitchen, bedroom, plastic furniture and various metal furniture. Also read: NBR to speed up this fiscal's VAT collection Cosmetics products include perfume, beauty and makeup preparation, tooth floss, tooth powder, preservative and after shave cosmetics, hair cosmetics etc. At present, regulatory duty or RD is applicable on 3,408 products at the import stage. RD is applicable on these products from minimum 3 per cent to maximum 35 percent. This includes high tariffs on items classified as non-essential and luxury items.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) may miss the fiscal revenue collection target as about half of the revenue collection is yet to be done with only four months left of the current financial year. Latest NBR data shows that the revenue board has collected  Tk1.76 lakh crore in eight months July-February period. It means that Tk 1.53 lakh crore of revenue collection still remaining and the board is far from  FY2021-22 revenue collection target of Tk 3.30 lakh crore. Also read: NBR works for win-win tax in upcoming budget: Finance Minister The official documents showed that the revenue board has to collect Tk38,385 crore in each month in the remaining four months (March-June) which is quite impossible and not happened earlier, the NBR data shows. The NBR has submitted a revised revenue collection plan with a target ofTk 3.05 lakh crore to reduce the gap between the target and achievement at the end of the fiscal year. If the ministry of finance approves the revised revenue collection plan, the revenue board has to collect Tk 32,000 crore per month on an average in the remaining (March-June) period. Despite 10.65 percent growth in revenue collection so far, the NBR may fail to reach the top of the target. Also read: Consider maximum cut in import VAT on edible oil: Cabinet directs NBR The revenue collection has jumped to Tk2.66 lakh crore in last FY2020-21) in place of the target of Tk3.30 crore that later was revised to Tk 3.0 lakh crore. The NBR collects revenue in the form of income tax, travel tax, customs duty; value added tax, supplementary duty (SD) and excise duty.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday said the government focused on increasing revenue from direct tax to give relief to lower income people from the tax burden. Under this system those who earn more pay more taxes, he told the 42nd consultant meeting of National Board of Revenue (NBR) ahead of national budget for FY2022-23 at a local hotel. He assured that no one will be unfairly burdened as NBR is considering a win-win tax rate in the upcoming national budget. Read: Consider maximum cut in import VAT on edible oil: Cabinet directs NBR Kamal said the government’s revenue collection increased by 8 times in the last 13 years and the volume of revenue was Tk2.59 lakh crore (Tk2.59 trillion- 1 trillion= 1 lakh crore) in the last FY2020-21. He said the businesses are contributing to the country’s development including construction of Padma Bridge by providing tax. The government wants to expand tax net rather than increasing tax rate to force a competitive business environment, he said. NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md. Rahmatul Muneem, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI) Md. Jasim Uddin, Vice presidents, and different chamber leaders spoke in the function.

The High Court on Sunday allowed its appointed board of directors for disgraced e-commerce company Evaly to withdraw Tk 2.35 crore deposited at City Bank and Southeast Bank for operating expenses. A single HC bench of Justice Muhamad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order following the application submitted by the board of directors of Evaly, that was formed on the direction of the court. Read: Evaly scam: Mithila, Faria get anticipatory bail The court also directed Bangladesh Bank and National Board of Revenue (NBR) to submit details on expenditures logged by Evaly’s former chief executive officer Mohammad Rassel and Chairperson Shamima Nasrin. At the same time, 22 vehicles registered by Evaly have been allowed to be rented or sold. Barrister Morshed Ahmed Khan appeared for Evaly board while Barrister Syed Mahsib Hossain for the writ petition. Barrister Syed Mahsib Hossain said the board of directors of Evaly could not withdraw any money from the bank accounts as Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) froze all the accounts of Evaly. On October 18 last year, the High Court formed a 5-member board, led by former justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, to manage, control and assess the liabilities of shuttered e-commerce platform Evaly. Other members of the board are former secretary Mohammad Rezaul Ahsan and additional secretary Mahbub Kabir Milon, chartered accountant Fakhruddin Ahmed and lawyer Barrister Khan Mohammad Shamim Aziz. Evaly CEO Mohammad Rassel and his wife Shamima Nasrin, the chairman of the platform were arrested on September 16, after a customer named Arif Baker filed a case at Gulshan Police Station alleging that e-commerce platform was not delivering products despite taking advanced payments. Read: Barishal court summons Evaly CEO Rassel in 3 cases of cheque fraud Meanwhile customer Farhad Hossain submitted an application at the High Court seeking dissolution of the beleaguered company and direction on forming a board of directors for the company. On September 22, the High Court ordered a ban on the sale and transfer of movable and immovable property during a hearing on the application and issued a notice questioning why Evaly will not be disbanded. On September 30, during a hearing in this regard the HC directed the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) to submit all the documents of Evaly within October 11.

As per the government’s directive, banks have deducted excise duty from customers’ accounts whose minimum balance reached Tk one lakh within 2021.  If the balance of customers’ bank accounts reached Tk one lakh within the year, banks would cut minimum excise duty ofTk150. Read: Social Islami Bank official sued by ACC According to the instruction, the banks have been deducting the excise duty from the calendar year (January-December), on behalf of the National Board of Revenue (NBR). It is then deposited in the government treasury. This year too it has been done. After deducting the duty, they deposited it in the government treasury. Last year (2020), NBR collected excise duty around Tk 2,500 crore. At present, the excise duty rate for Tk one lakh to Tk five lakh is Tk 150, Tk five lakh to Tk 10 lakh is Tk 500. Read:Credit guarantee scheme: IFC, Bangladesh Bank sign deal to support Covid-hit small businesses Besides, excise duty of Tk 10 lakh to Tk 1.0 crore is Tk 3,000, while the duty is fixed at Tk 15000 for the amount of customers’ bank accounts between Tk one crore to Tk five crore. The NBR imposed the excise duty of Tk 40,000 for the amount of Tk five crore onward.