On Wednesday, November 13, Bangladesh Bank issued a directive aimed at reducing transaction fees for paying income tax through debit and credit cards, mobile financial services (MFS) like bKash, Nagad, and Rocket, as well as internet banking. The directive was sent from the Payment Systems Department to the CEOs of all banks, MFS providers, payment service providers (PSP), payment system operators, and international payment schemes.
The directive specifies that for payments up to BDT 25,000 via card or internet banking, a transaction fee of BDT 20 will apply, while transactions above BDT 25,000 will incur a maximum fee of BDT 50. For payments made via MFS or PSP wallets, the charge will be 1% of the transaction or a maximum of BDT 30, inclusive of VAT.
The reduction follows a request from the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on October 27, urging a fee reduction due to the high charges that previously hindered the adoption of electronic tax payment systems. Previously, a 1.6% fee was applied to transactions, which, according to NBR, posed challenges to online tax payment.
Bangladesh Bank’s directive also aims to simplify tax compliance for the current fiscal year, 2024-25, with NBR’s e-return system now enabling online payments through internet banking, card payments, and MFS or PSP wallets.
