E-Returns See Surge as Online Tax Filings Triple in a Year
Online income tax return submissions have recorded a significant surge in the current 2025–26 fiscal year, reflecting growing public adoption of Bangladesh’s digital tax system. According to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), more than 3 million taxpayers have already filed their returns online, while nearly 4.5 million taxpayers have completed registration on the e-return platform.
During the same period last year, only 1,002,298 taxpayers had submitted e-returns. The latest data show a steady month-by-month rise from August to October, with around 100,000 additional returns each month, followed by a sharp jump of more than 500,000 filings in November alone. By the final month of the year, online participation has effectively tripled within a single year.
The growing interest is being attributed to government initiatives aimed at simplifying the tax system and making it more taxpayer-friendly, according to NBR’s latest update.
NBR statistics reveal that 251,784 taxpayers filed e-returns in August 2025, 301,302 in September, 454,076 in October, 1,040,472 in November, and nearly 1 million taxpayers by the end of December.
To further facilitate compliance, the government has extended the deadline for submitting income tax returns to January 31, 2026. The NBR has expressed optimism that more than 4 million taxpayers will submit e-returns within the extended timeframe.
Bangladeshi taxpayers residing abroad have also been given access to online return filing. Although e-return submission is not mandatory for expatriates, they can register by emailing their passport number, National ID number, and email address to ereturn@etaxnbr.gov.bd, after which an OTP and registration link are sent to their email. Authorized representatives are also permitted to file returns online on behalf of taxpayers this year.
To make the e-return process more user-friendly, the NBR has conducted training programmes for taxpayers and authorized representatives, including income tax lawyers, chartered accountants, cost and management accountants, and chartered secretaries. For assistance, taxpayers can contact the NBR call centre at 09643-71-71-71, submit written complaints via the eTax Service option on www.etaxnbr.gov.bd, or seek help directly from e-return help desks set up at tax offices nationwide.
Earlier, on August 4, 2025, Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed formally inaugurated the e-return filing system through the www.etaxnbr.gov.bd website. Under a special order, online return filing has been made mandatory for all individual taxpayers except senior citizens aged 65 and above, physically challenged or specially abled taxpayers, expatriate Bangladeshis, legal heirs of deceased taxpayers, and foreign nationals working in Bangladesh. Notably, many taxpayers exempted from mandatory e-filing are also voluntarily submitting returns online.
The National Board of Revenue has urged all individual taxpayers to file their 2025–26 fiscal year income tax returns through the e-return system by January 31, 2026.
DBTech/DM/EK/OR
