The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) in Bangladesh, in association with National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Wednesday jointly hosted an introductory event and awareness session on the recently launched NBR's VAT e-Payment System.
HSBC Bangladesh is one of the pilot banks of this project and was the first bank in the market to make live transaction on this platform, said a statement.
NBR along with Bangladesh Bank has taken this remarkable initiative to digitalise the VAT payment process ensuring that overall VAT payment collection becomes more efficient and convenient for end users. In the virtual event, NBR also made a short presentation to educate the participants about how the VAT e-Payment System works.
Currently, VAT payments are primarily collected through physical instruments (e.g. pay order or bank cheque) which are more manual, time consuming and error-prone in nature. Through HSBC's eVAT proposition, businesses and organisations can quickly complete VAT payment through HSBCnet, HSBC's online platform for corporates.
The payment will be received by the NBR's account for VAT held in Bangladesh Bank electronically. Upon completion of a successful transaction, the client will immediately receive an SMS with a VAT challan number and subsequently will receive an email with challan copy particulars. Each transaction will be completed near real-time through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) transactions, instead of two to three days which is typical for payments using physical instruments.
The virtual session was attended by Mr. Abu Hena Md. Rahmatul Muneem, Senior Secretary, Internal Resources Division & Chairman, NBR as the Chief Guest and Mr. Md. Mezbaul Haque, General Manager, Payment Systems Department, Bangladesh Bank as the Special Guest.
Mr. Yasir Azman, Chief Executive Officer, Grameenphone, Mr. Kedar Lele, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Unilever Bangladesh, Mr. Rajesh Surana, Chief Executive Officer, LafargeHolcim Bangladesh, Mr. Fazlur Rahman, Chairman, City Group, Mr. Mostofa Kamal, Chairman, Meghna Group, Mr. Mannan Shikder, Member, VAT, Audit and Intelligence, NBR, Kazi Mostafizur Rahman, Commissioner and Project Director, VAT Online Project, NBR, Md. Mahbub ur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Bangladesh, Jason W H Tan, Managing Director, Regional Head of International Global Liquidity and Cash Management (GLCM) Countries, HSBC Asia Pacific, Riaz A Choudhury, Country Head of Wholesale Banking (Interim), HSBC Bangladesh were present along with other senior officials.
Mr. Abu Hena Md. Rahmatul Muneem of NBR said, "The VAT online project is an important initiative of NBR as well as the Government of Bangladesh. With the module the tax payers will be able to pay their taxes at ease from their homes or any other places in a fully secured manner. They will no longer need to physically visit Bangladesh Bank or Sonali Bank to deposit cash or Pay Orders. VAT authority will be able to gather accurate information on the payments made by the tax payers through the IVAS. The VAT e-Payment System will play a critical role in ensuring accountability, transparency and establishing trust between taxpayers and VAT officials, as a result, it will create a business friendly environment."
Mr. Md. Mezbaul Haque, General Manager of Payment Systems Department said, "Bangladesh Bank is happy to join NBR in this remarkable initiative to digitalize the VAT payment process ensuring that overall VAT payment collection becomes more efficient and convenient for end users. We look forward to continue to collaborate with other regulators, business bodies and banks in this digital journey and also work in areas of policy improvement. I would like to thank HSBC to be part of this digital journey. As a global bank, I would request HSBC Bangladesh to leverage their global reach and expertise more for the advancement of Bangladesh in the coming days."
Md. Mahbub ur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Bangladesh commented, "We are very proud of our role in delivering Bangladesh's first online VAT payment solution - a collaboration with the NBR and BB which will significantly improve the efficiency and security of this critical national revenue stream. At HSBC we want to make banking simpler, faster and better for our customers, and we are committed to continue to play our part in accelerating the digitisation of banking in Bangladesh."
