The number of zero return submission by both corporate and individual taxpayers has reached over 400,000 so far of the current fiscal year, in a sign taxpayers conceal the actual income.
The submission accounts for 22.30 per cent of the total tax returns filed by the taxpayers during FY 2019-20.
The data of nil return submission by corporate taxpayers also remained high.
A total of 12,500 corporate taxpayers filed their tax returns up to January 15 this year.
Of them, around 4,074, or almost one-third of corporate taxpayers did not pay any levy with their income tax returns in the year.
Corporate taxpayers submit nil returns if they do not have any income generating activity or yet to start such activity, said a senior tax official.
But officials expected the number of tax returns submission by the corporate taxpayers to go up by end of the fiscal.
Many corporate taxpayers have submitted applications for the extension of time to submit tax returns.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) recently collected the data of nil tax returns from the tax offices across the country to prepare a database on the number of nil return filers for the first time.
The volume of nil return submission by both corporate and individual taxpayers took them aback.
The number and percentage were also similar during the FY 2018-2019.
The NBR data revealed that some 410,000 or 21.60 per cent individual taxpayers and 8,240 or 30 per cent corporate taxpayers did not pay any tax with their returns last year.
A total of 1.8 million individual taxpayers and 27,375 corporate taxpayers filed their tax returns during FY 2018-19.
The time for submission of tax returns by individual taxpayers expired on December 1. Taxpayers filed the tax returns during FY 2019-20 on the basis of their income during FY 2018-19.
Some 1.9 million individual taxpayers filed their tax returns during the current fiscal within the deadline.
The zero-return for individual taxpayers means people in question have no taxable income or their earnings are below the taxable ceiling of Tk 250,000.
A senior tax official said a number of field-level tax officials raised the issue several times, but the board was hesitant, because there was no data of such taxpayers.
For the first time, the tax authority collected the data of zero return submission to enhance taxpayers' compliance, he said.
Although an insignificant amount of revenue could be realised through scrutiny, it is a matter of tax compliance, he added.
The income tax policy wing may take initiative to reduce the number of zero returns by making a minimum tax payment mandatory for all filers of tax returns, he argued.
There might be a certain number of zero returns as the submission is mandatory for people who own a motor vehicle, participate in tenders, run business or profession having trade licence, etc.
Talking to the FE, Adeeb H Khan, tariff and taxation subcommittee chairman of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), said the board will have to develop data-base and automate it to trace the taxpayers who are submitting zero returns despite having taxable income.
"The focus should be given on the large taxpayers evading taxes rather than chasing the smaller ones," he said.
