A-Challan: How to Pay Income Tax and VAT Online, Verify a Challan, and Fix a Wrong or Invalid One

In this guide: What an A-challan is and when you need one · Paying income tax: the two routes · Paying VAT · Verifying a challan and fixing a wrong one

The short answer

An A-challan (automated challan) is the electronic treasury receipt that proves you have paid money to the government. For income tax you either pay from inside your e-return — the portal creates the challan and posts it to your return automatically — or you generate one on the iBAS++ A-challan portal, pay it, and enter its number in the return. For VAT the challan is generated through the e-VAT system against your BIN. Pay from inside the return where you can: the single commonest problem we see is a challan paid correctly but typed into the return wrongly.

What an A-challan is and when you need one

Before October 2020 tax was paid on a paper treasury challan stamped at a Sonali Bank counter — slow to verify and easy to fake. The Finance Division and NBR launched the Automated Challan System on iBAS++ to replace it. Every A-challan has a unique number, a date, the payer’s TIN or BIN, the economic code of the head of account, the amount, and a barcode; the government ledger is credited the same day and the challan can be verified online by anyone who has the number.

You need one whenever money goes to the government: income tax with a return, advance tax, tax deducted at source by an employer or company, VAT and supplementary duty, VAT deducted at source, customs duty, and a long list of fees (passport, trade licence surcharges, company filings). The economic code is what tells the ledger which tax you paid; the A-challan portal assigns it when you choose “income tax” or “VAT” and your circle or commissionerate, so you rarely need to type it.

Paying income tax: the two routes

Route 1 — inside the e-return (recommended). On etaxnbr.gov.bd, after the tax computation, open Tax & Payment and choose Pay Now. The portal offers A-challan through the bank gateway, internet banking, debit or credit card, and the mobile wallets bKash, Nagad and Rocket. The challan is created with the right code and tax year and is posted to your return automatically; you then submit. NBR’s 2026-27 launch confirmed all of these channels.

Route 2 — pay first, enter later. On the A-challan portal choose NBR → Income Tax, enter your TIN (the name fills in), the tax year, the payment type (return tax, advance tax, tax deducted at source) and the amount, then pay at a bank counter, by account transfer, by card or by mobile wallet. Download the PDF. In the e-return, open Tax & Payment → e-Return Ledger and enter the challan number, date, bank, branch, challan amount and the amount you are claiming against this return. The number must match character for character.

Withholding entities deposit deducted tax the same way, under their WIN, within the deadlines in our withholding guide. Advance income tax paid at import has been credited to the e-return automatically since January 2026 through the customs link.

Paying VAT

VAT and supplementary duty are paid against your BIN through the e-VAT system (the renamed IVAS): the monthly return generates the payable figure and the challan is raised under the VAT economic code for your commissionerate. Electronic payment is compulsory where the net VAT payable for a period is Tk 10 lakh or more; smaller amounts may still be paid at a bank counter on a system-generated challan. VAT deducted at source by a withholding entity is deposited the same way and then certified to the supplier on Mushak 6.6 within three working days. The Finance Act 2026 also routed VAT on imported services — the 15% reverse charge on a payment to a foreign supplier — through the bank at remittance, with the e-challan as the credit document. Our Mushak 9.1 guide covers the monthly cycle.

Verifying a challan and fixing a wrong one

Verification. Enter the challan number (and, if asked, the date and amount) on the Finance Division’s challan verification page. Banks, registries and NBR officers use the same lookup; a challan that does not verify is treated as unpaid.

“Invalid Challan No.” The e-return rejects a challan it cannot match. In our experience the causes, in order of frequency, are: a typing error or a paper-era challan number that is not in iBAS++ at all; a payment still “pending” at the bank (it usually clears within 24 hours — try again the next day); a challan raised under the wrong tax year or the wrong head of account, so the system refuses to apply it to this return; and a challan already claimed in another return. Check the PDF against what you typed, wait a day, and if it still fails, go to the circle with the PDF.

A challan paid under the wrong head, year or TIN. It cannot be edited or cancelled online once paid. Apply in writing to the Deputy Commissioner of your circle (or the VAT divisional officer) with a copy of the challan, asking that it be re-mapped or credited to the correct account; if the amount was short, pay the balance on a fresh challan and attach both. Keep the acknowledgement of the application — it is your proof of payment until the correction is posted.

NBR’s helpline for the portal is 09643-71-71-71.