Bangladesh, Aug. 6 -- Despite mandatory rules, legal requirements and incentives aimed at expanding the tax base, Bangladesh is still struggling to turn TIN holders into regular income-tax filers.

The NBR says 4.9 million individual taxpayers and companies filed returns in the 2025-26 tax year, against 13.1 million TIN holders -- just 38 percent.

NBR Member Md Rafiqul Islam Chowdhury sees the rising numbers as progress, saying TIN holders increased by more than 1.3 million last year while returns also rose by several hundred thousand.

But he noted that hundreds of industries had shut and many people had lost jobs, meaning returns had not grown at the same pace as TIN registrations.

The NBR made online filing mandatory last year, whil...