NBR surpasses VAT registration target in December

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has surpassed its target for new VAT registrations in December, bringing 131,000 previously unregistered businesses under the VAT net through a special nationwide drive.

The registrations were made under a campaign conducted from December 10 to December 31, following the observance of VAT Day on December 10 and VAT Week from December 10 to 15, according to a press release.

This year's VAT Day theme was "Register on time, pay VAT correctly."

As part of the initiative, the NBR had set a target to register 100,000 unregistered businesses across the country.

However, the drive exceeded expectations, with the country's 12 VAT commissionerates jointly registering 131,000 establishments within a single month.

Before launching the drive, Bangladesh had 644,000 VAT-registered entities, and now the number stands at 775,000.

Prior to the interim government assuming office, the number of registered entities was around 516,000.

VAT remains the single largest source of government revenue. Of the total revenue collected last year from customs duty, VAT, and income tax, VAT accounted for 38 percent.

Officials said expanding the VAT base is critical to boosting domestic resource mobilisation and reducing dependence on a relatively small pool of compliant taxpayers.