Tax return filing deadline extended for companies

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has extended the deadline for submission of tax returns for companies until June 15 this year for the income year 2022-23, according to a notice issued today.

The benefit will be applicable for the companies that have sought time from the tax authority to file their tax returns, said the notice signed by Md Mohidul Islam Chowdhury, second secretary of tax policy at the NBR.

The move comes as many companies, whose follow July-June as financial year, could not file their returns even after seeking time since the end of Tax Day – January 15 of every year.

Taxmen said this year a large number of companies could not file their returns as they could not complete preparing their annual reports in compliance with the NBR rule of submission of tax returns by using Document Verification System (DVS), said officials of the NBR.

The DVS is digital system developed by the NBR and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) in November, 2020 to prevent submission of falsified accounts along with tax return to evade taxes.

The tax authority in December of the same year made the use of DVS to ensure that businesses deposit their due amount of corporate income tax to the state coffer.

Through this digital system, ICAB members have to provide five key financial data on the company they are auditing. This includes the firm's profits, turnover, total assets and the company's liability for a stipulated period.

A top official of the NBR said many companies applied for additional time to comply with the rules.

"So, instead of giving time on case-to-case basis, we have allowed time for the companies that have sought time to file return of their income for the year 2022-23," he said.

"This is going to give them a breathing space."

Companies account for roughly 60 per cent of total income tax-- the second biggest source of revenue -- collected by the NBR a year.

During the last fiscal year, nearly 29,000 companies filed their tax returns.

Until May this year, nearly 19,000 companies filed tax returns for the fiscal year 2022-23, said the second official of the NBR.

The official said companies will have to pay 2 per cent monthly interest on the payable taxes for submission of return after the usual deadline.