The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended introducing a single Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) in Bangladesh as part of sweeping reforms aimed at modernising the country's revenue administration, improving transparency and curbing tax evasion.
Under the proposed system, income tax, VAT, customs, import-export, tax deduction at source and other financial data of an individual or institution will be accessible and analyzable on a single platform, according to a UNB report.
The recommendation came during a meeting on Tuesday between an IMF delegation and senior officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), including NBR Chairman Ahsan Habib, according to sources familiar with the discussion.
An IMF fact-finding mission, led by Bangladesh Mission Chief Iva Petrova, is currently visiting Bangladesh to hold a series of discussions with the government on revenue administration reforms, tax collection enhancement, digital modernisation, and broader economic reforms.
The IMF said that this integration would enhance transparency and efficiency in tax administration, streamline tax evasion detection, and make taxpayer services faster and more effective.
Currently, Bangladesh uses electronic Taxpayer Identification Numbers (e-TIN) for income taxpayers and Business Identification Numbers (BIN) for VAT-registered entities.
The IMF observed that maintaining two separate identification numbers leaves taxpayer information scattered across different databases, preventing a consolidated view and effective analysis of a taxpayer's full economic activities.
The IMF highlighted that a single identification system would consolidate income tax returns, VAT returns, import-export data, tax deduction at source, banking transactions, and other tax-related information on a single platform.
This would facilitate risk-based auditing, accelerate tax evasion detection, and significantly boost administrative efficiency.
During the meeting, IMF representatives said the storing income tax, VAT, and customs data in separate databases remains a major limitation for the NBR.
Implementing an integrated taxpayer identification system would improve data verification, risk assessment, and tax collection. It would also allow taxpayers to access all tax-related services using a single identification number instead of multiple numbers, they said.
The IMF also emphasised full digital transformation and automation, recommending that the NBR's database be automatically integrated with those of other government bodies, including the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC), Bangladesh Bank, land registration authorities, the Office of the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports, Customs, and the Ministry of Commerce.
Furthermore, the IMF stressed the implementation of analytics-based compliance management, risk-based auditing, online income tax return filing, e-payments, and the complete digitisation of tax deduction at source records.
According to the IMF, several countries have already implemented single taxpayer identification systems, including India’s Permanent Account Number (PAN), Nepal’s PAN, Hong Kong’s Business Registration Number (BRN), Singapore’s Unique Entity Number (UEN), Australia’s Australian Business Number (ABN), and New Zealand’s IRD number.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said a single taxpayer identification number would benefit both tax administration and taxpayers.
Consolidating registration, tax deduction, business operations, and income tax information under one number would enhance the NBR's coordination capacity, reduce opportunities for tax evasion, and simplify taxpayers' access to services, he said.
NBR officials acknowledged that various reform initiatives are currently underway to modernise the revenue administration, with automation, data integration, and digital taxpayer services prioritised under the medium- and long-term revenue strategies.
Officials said that while the IMF has recommended merging income tax and VAT identification numbers since 2005, immediate implementation is challenging under the current circumstances.
They said expanding the income tax and VAT networks, integrating databases, and strengthening technological infrastructure must come first before gradually introducing a single identification system.