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Massive inquisitiveness of individual taxpayers to know about the dos in online tax-return submission has prompted the revenue board to go for intensifying helpline service, up to divisional tiers of taxing.
Helpline service would be expanded to the divisional cities soon as the number of queries from the taxpayers is increasing fast, officials say.
On average, two dedicated helpline teams of the NBR, one in the board and another in e-tax management unit, are getting 1,000 queries daily.
A senior tax official has said, "The volume of queries would increase further as deadline for tax-return submission is approaching fast."
NBR high-ups inaugurated the second helpline service, with the same phone number, in e-tax management unit last Thursday.
Two teams, comprising 10 tax officials each, have received training from the NBR prior to providing services to the taxpayers, he added.
The NBR expects more than double online- tax returns this year, compared to that of last year, as it has been made mandatory for all individual taxpayers, save few exceptions.
More than 10,000 taxpayers submitted their income-tax returns online on the first day of e-return filing for the tax year 2025-26. In comparison, only 2,344 taxpayers filed returns online on the first day of online submission in the previous year, on September 9.
Currently, there are around 12 million Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) holders in the country, but only about 4.5 million file returns annually.
Senior citizens aged 65 or above, physically disabled or persons with special needs (subject to submission of valid certification), Bangladeshi taxpayers residing abroad and legal representatives filing returns on behalf of deceased taxpayers are exempt from the mandatory online tax-return -filing provision. They can submit paper return, if online tax return seems complex for them.
Last year, when online return submission was made mandatory for individual taxpayers under specific jurisdictions -- bank employees across the country, and employees of certain multinational companies -- over 1.7 million taxpayers filed their returns online.
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