A minimum fine of Tk 2,500 will be slapped on the defaulters after the expiry of the deadline and they will also have to pay Tk 250 in fine for each day from September 30 onwards.

NBR high officials said the government pays taxes of the government officials according to the existing rules but from now on they will have to pay the fines.

The government is also mulling over making the employees pay income tax once it implements the new pay structure for public servants, the officials said.

It has asked the Pay Commission to suggest what should the pay structure be if the government pays tax and what if the employees themselves pay it.

The NBR officials said they would recommend to the Pay Commission for formulating a pay structure where the government employees pay their own tax.

Of some nine lakh government employees, salaries of about 30,000 are taxable, an NBR official said, adding the government paid the NBR Tk 100 crore in taxes of public servants in the last fiscal year.

The NBR also made it mandatory for the government staff who have TIN (taxpayer's identification number) to submit income tax returns in the current fiscal year.

The NBR officials said the government made the provision in 2002 for the civil servants to mention their TIN in the salary bill. But it was found that although the employees mention their TIN in the salary bill, they do not submit income tax return in time, prompting the government to make the income tax return mandatory.

The government employees will also have to furnish information on their lifestyle with the income tax return as a deterrent to their tax dodging, the NBR officials added.

The government employees usually own land, houses and cars and have other income that is inconsistent with their salary, the officials added.

The NBR circular sent to the secretaries observed that the number of income taxpayers compared to the country's population is very few. The government has taken these measures to widen the income tax base for increasing its earning.