Before you start

A Taxpayer's Identification Number (TIN) from the NBR
A day count against the 1 July–30 June income year
Salary certificates and records of any foreign income
A Bangladeshi bank account

Step-by-step

1
Do the day count properly — 182 days, two limbs, July to June
You are resident if present for 182 days or more in the income year, or 90 days or more in the income year if you were present for more than 365 days across the four preceding years. The year runs 1 July to 30 June. All three elements differ from the common assumption, and residence turns purely on presence regardless of your residency elsewhere.
OnlineWho: YouOn arrival
2
Obtain a TIN
Registration is done through the NBR's e-TIN system. Employers generally require it, banks ask for it, and it is the precondition for filing anything.
OnlineWho: YouMonth 1
3
Find out which Chattogram taxes zone and circle you belong to
Income tax is national, but administration is zonal, and Chattogram division has several taxes zones of its own. Your circle is determined by your address or your employer, and knowing it early saves a wasted trip later — particularly at departure, when the clearance certificate has to come from your own circle.
In personWho: YouMonth 1–2
4
Understand the non-resident flat rate before you plan your days
Non-residents are taxed at a flat rate on Bangladesh-source income rather than on the progressive scale that applies to residents. Depending on your income level, crossing or not crossing the residency threshold can move the answer significantly either way. Model it rather than assuming residence is worse.
OnlineWho: You
5
File the annual return
Returns are filed with your local tax circle under the Income Tax Act 2023, with e-filing increasingly available. An employer's withholding does not remove the individual filing obligation.
OnlineWho: YouAnnually
6
Start the tax clearance certificate six to eight weeks before permanent departure
A person not domiciled in Bangladesh may not leave without one. For a permanent departure that means filing a return covering 1 July to the departure date, with estimated income to departure included, and obtaining the certificate from your own Chattogram circle. It requires your presence and it is not quick.
In personWho: You6–8 weeks before departure

Documents you’ll need

TIN certificate
Salary certificate and withholding statements
Bank statements
Records of foreign income and any foreign tax paid
Tax clearance certificate, on permanent departure

Things most newcomers don’t know

The threshold is 182 days, not 183, and there is a second limb most people never hear about.

Bangladeshi residence turns on presence of 182 days or more in the income year, or 90 days or more in the income year where you were in Bangladesh for more than 365 days across the four preceding years. That second limb catches people on repeated short assignments who assume they are safely non-resident. Anyone transferring a 183-day calendar-year habit from another country has three things wrong at once: the number, the second test, and the year boundary.

Source: National Board of Revenue; Income Tax Act 2023

There is no city or provincial income tax anywhere in Bangladesh — and that is worth stating plainly.

People arriving from federal or devolved systems — the United States, Germany, Japan, Canada, India — reasonably ask what the local layer costs, because in those countries it is real money and varies city to city. In Bangladesh the honest answer is that it does not exist: income tax is wholly national under the Income Tax Act 2023, and Chattogram, Dhaka, Khulna and Rajshahi are identical on rate, threshold and year. What differs is only which zone and circle administers your file.

Source: National Board of Revenue

You cannot leave permanently without a tax clearance certificate, and it must come from your own circle.

The law provides that a person not domiciled in Bangladesh shall not leave without obtaining a tax clearance certificate from the income tax authority. In practice that means an exit return covering 1 July to your departure date, filed at your local tax circle with estimated income to departure included. It requires your physical presence and cannot be done from abroad — and it must be your circle, which is a reason to establish early which Chattogram zone holds your file. People spend their last month on handovers and then meet this.

Source: National Board of Revenue

The flat non-resident rate means residence is not automatically the worse outcome — model it.

Non-residents are taxed at a flat rate on Bangladesh-source income while residents face the progressive scale. Depending on your income level and the shape of your foreign income, either can be better. The instinct to avoid tax residence everywhere is not automatically right in Bangladesh, and for some salary levels the resident position is more favourable. Worth modelling with an adviser in your first year rather than assuming.

Source: National Board of Revenue

Common mistakes to avoid

Carrying a 183-day, calendar-year assumption from another country.
Missing the 90-day second limb after several years of short assignments.
Not knowing which Chattogram taxes zone and circle holds your file until you need the exit certificate.
Leaving the tax clearance certificate to the final fortnight before departure.
Assuming an employer's withholding removes your filing obligation.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.