The tax authority has drafted a new income tax law that seeks to refund additional tax automatically to bank accounts of taxpayers.

The move comes at a time when issue of refund of extra tax paid continues to be very difficult for taxpayers mainly for inertia among taxmen to avoid future complexity.

The tax authority refunded Tk 1,764 crore in fiscal year 2018-19 when it collected Tk 69,074 crore in tax.

The amount of refund was only Tk 65 crore in the fiscal year 2017-18, according to NBR's annual reports.

The draft law, which comes in Bangla for the first time, also looks to curb taxmen's discretionary powers, which have been an issue of contentions between taxpayers and officials for a long time.

"We have prepared the draft in order to make it taxpayer-friendly. We have made the law easy to understand for taxpayers and incorporated international best practices to make it business friendly," said NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem at a press briefing at the NBR headquarters today.

The revenue administration, which collects more than 85 per cent revenue for the state, arranged the briefing after it posted the draft income tax law for opinions from stakeholders with the objective to replace the existing Income Tax Ordinance 1984.

Muneem, also senior secretary of Internal Resources Division under finance ministry, said the ordinance was introduced by taking the income tax law 1922 after some modifications and changes. 

However, it has become necessary to introduce a new law in line with the international laws, as a lot of things, including types of businesses, accounting norms and practices, have changed over time, he said.

"This is a 100-year-old law," he said, adding that the existing rules are not easy to understand for many.