Bangladesh's National Board of Revenue collected Tk 33 thousand 300 crore in income tax in the first quarter of FY2026-27, up 17 percent from a year earlier, The Bangladesh Today reported, citing NBR sources.
The July–September figure compares with about Tk 28 thousand 460 crore in the same period of FY2025-26, an increase of roughly Tk 4 thousand 840 crore. The gains come even as the economy shows signs of slowdown, with instability in trade and stagnation in investment, the newspaper reported.
The mixed picture matters because the NBR faces its most demanding annual target yet. The government has set a revenue goal of Tk 6 lakh 4 thousand crore for FY2026-27 — about 20 percent higher than last year's revised target. With total collection of Tk 4 lakh 15 thousand crore last fiscal year, revenue must grow 45.54 percent to meet the new goal.
Why income tax collection rose 17 percent
A senior NBR official attributed the growth to changes in the legal framework, higher taxes collected from high-income individuals and increased revenue from capital gains, according to The Bangladesh Today.
Return filings surged alongside collections. Individual taxpayers submitted 12 lakh 53 thousand returns in the first three months of the current tax year, up from 7 lakh 9 thousand a year earlier — a 77 percent increase. The NBR offered incentives for early return submissions to encourage compliance, and the higher filing rate had a positive effect on income tax receipts, the report said.
The NBR has not officially published any revenue collection data for FY2026-27; the figures were provided by NBR sources.
VAT return monthly filing Bangladesh: quarterly experiment reversed
The FY2026-27 budget had allowed businesses to file VAT returns quarterly instead of monthly as a convenience measure. The change hurt collections, and the government backed away from it.
VAT collection in July was Tk 9 thousand 302 crore, down about 19.4 percent from Tk 11 thousand 547 crore a year earlier. August collection was Tk 8 thousand 362 crore, down about 24.5 percent from Tk 11 thousand 81 crore. Two-month VAT collection totalled Tk 17 thousand 664 crore, about 22 percent lower than the same period last year, according to NBR data cited by The Bangladesh Today.
On 28 September, the cabinet approved amendments to the VAT and Supplementary Duty Act, restoring monthly return filing. Under the amended provisions:
- Businesses must file returns within 15 days of the end of each tax period, instead of quarterly.
- If a government holiday falls on the deadline, returns may be filed the next working day.
- Government, semi-government and autonomous bodies, banks, insurers and nil-return filers get a 20-day deadline.
The NBR has also extended the deadline for pending July and August returns to 15 October. Returns filed within that period will not face penalties, the board said.
Bangladesh revenue target 2026-27 breaks down by source
The Tk 6 lakh 4 thousand crore target assigns Tk 2 lakh 23 thousand 480 crore each to income tax and VAT, and Tk 1 lakh 57 thousand 40 crore to customs.
Customs collected about Tk 1 lakh 11 thousand 623 crore last fiscal year. No first-quarter customs data is available for the current year. Import-export trends, industrial raw material and capital machinery imports, and the effect of duty exemptions will weigh on that stream, the report said.
Whether the return to monthly VAT filing restores collections remains an open question, as does whether the 45.54 percent growth required to hit the annual target is achievable. The NBR has yet to officially release its first-quarter figures.