Tax deduction at source now goes online to ensure transparency

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has asked all public and private sector organisations to submit the tax deducted at source online, which was previously submitted manually, with a view to bringing transparency in source tax management.

The online source tax submission system will be known as "electronic tax deduction at source" (eTDS), says a statutory regulatory order (SRO) issued by the revenue board on Wednesday.

The NBR notification states that statements related to tax deduction or collection should be prepared electronically. In this case, income tax deduction and deposit to the government treasury should be done online or over the counter (OTC) by logging on to the NBR website – www.edts.gov.bd – and displaying it online, it adds.

A senior official of the NBR's tax department told The Business Standard that this measure has been taken mainly to bring transparency in the management of tax deducted at source (TDS) and simplify the process.

As a result, information on how much money an organisation has collected from whom will be available quickly, the official said, adding that tax officers do not have to go to the offices and collect the taxes manually.

It will also facilitate monitoring of the TDS system and increase collection, he continued.

According to NBR sources, about 50,000 companies currently deduct income tax at source in the country and about 60% of the tax generated by the NBR is collected through this process.

In the current fiscal year 2022-23, the NBR has set a target of collecting Tk1,22,000 crore from the income tax sector.