Paying Land Development Tax (Khajna) Online in Bangladesh: Rates, Dakhila and Arrears

In this guide: How much is khajna per decimal? · How to pay land development tax online, step by step · Arrears: how far back, and what is the penalty? · Holding not found or wrong arrears after namjari: what to do · Does paying khajna prove you own the land?

The short answer

You pay khajna online at ldtax.gov.bd. Register with your mobile number, NID and date of birth, add your holding (the land office checks it against the record), then pay by mobile banking or card and download the dakhila. The tax year is July to June, and the current year is due by 30 June. Farming families with up to 25 bigha of agricultural land pay no tax. For other land the rate depends on the area and on how the land is used. Tax left unpaid for three years can be recovered through a certificate case, with a 6.25% yearly penalty.

How much is khajna per decimal?

The rate depends on two things: whether the land is agricultural or non-agricultural, and where it is.

• Agricultural land. Under section 3 of the Land Development Tax Act 2023, a person or family that depends on farming pays no tax on up to 8.25 acres (25 bigha) in total. Sugarcane land, salt pans and farmers’ own ponds count as agricultural, but commercial fish farms do not. If the family holds more than 25 bigha, tax is payable on the whole area, not just the excess.
• Non-agricultural land. Under section 4 the government fixes rates by notification, per decimal, by area class and by use: commercial, industrial, or residential and other. The schedule in use divides the country into six area classes, from the big city corporations down to union areas. Commercial land in the top class pays the most. Residential land in a union pays the least.

A few rules affect the final amount. A fraction of a decimal is counted as a full decimal (section 11). Co-owners in one khatian are each taxed on their recorded share (section 6). Where one owner has several khatians in the same mouza, they are combined into one account, called a jamabandi (section 10).

Rates change by government notification, so do not rely on a figure from a video or an old post. Once your holding is added on ldtax.gov.bd, the portal works out the amount for you. Each July the union land office also prepares the assessment list and the owner gets an SMS.

How to pay land development tax online, step by step

1. Register. On ldtax.gov.bd choose citizen registration and enter your mobile number, NID number and date of birth. Confirm with the OTP and set a password.
2. Add your holding. Give the division, district, upazila, mouza and khatian number, and upload the khatian (or namjari khatian) and your last dakhila if you have one. The union land office checks this against its register and links the holding to your account.
3. Check the demand. Open the holding and look at the land area, the land class and any arrears. If something is wrong, use the objection option before paying.
4. Pay. Pay by bKash, Nagad, Rocket, Upay, card or Sonali Bank.
5. Download the dakhila. The online dakhila carries a QR code that anyone can scan to confirm it is genuine. Save a PDF copy and print one.

Land offices no longer take cash for land tax. If an option will not load, or the payment button does not appear, the holding has usually not been approved yet or has an error. Call the land service helpline 16122 or go to the union land office with your papers. Do not pay a middleman to “fix” the portal. The official tax is all you owe.

Arrears: how far back, and what is the penalty?

Under section 7, each year’s tax can be paid without penalty until 30 June of that year. After that date it becomes arrears (section 9). You may also pay up to three years in advance.

If an owner fails to pay for three years in a row, section 9(2) applies. The arrears are collected with a penalty of 6.25% a year, which the Act applies from the first to the third year. After the third year the office can recover the money through a certificate case under the Public Demands Recovery Act 1913. That Act allows attachment and, in the end, auction of the owner’s property.

Two points people often get wrong:

• There is no time bar. Section 9(5) says a land development tax demand never becomes time-barred. The office can claim old arrears for as far back as they are genuinely unpaid. The real question is whether the record is correct.
• Paying ends the case. If you pay the arrears and penalty while a certificate case is running, the case must be withdrawn. If you dispute the debt itself, you can file a petition denying liability within 30 days of being served the certificate notice.

Arrears also cause practical problems. They hold up namjari, sale registration and bank loans, so clear them early.

Holding not found or wrong arrears after namjari: what to do

This is the most common complaint. A buyer completes namjari, a new holding is opened in their name, and the portal then shows five years of arrears. Yet the seller had paid every year.

What usually happened: the seller’s payments sit on the old holding and were not carried across. Or the new holding was opened with the wrong area or the wrong land class.

1. Collect the seller’s dakhilas, your deed, the namjari order and the new khatian (DCR).
2. Apply in writing to the union land office for adjustment of the arrears against the dakhilas already paid. Use the portal objection option as well, so there is a record.
3. If the land class changed after namjari (for example from agricultural to residential), ask for a correction. Tax follows the land’s actual use (section 4). Bring photos and a local certificate if the land is still farmed.
4. If the office will not correct it, apply to the AC (Land) for review within 15 working days of the assessment list or SMS (section 16). Against the AC (Land)’s order, you can appeal to the Deputy Commissioner within 15 working days (section 17). That decision is final.

If your holding cannot be found at all, the khatian may not yet be entered in the digital register. The union land office has to add it first. Ask for a receipt for your application.

Does paying khajna prove you own the land?

No. A dakhila proves that tax was paid on a holding. Courts treat a long, unbroken run of dakhilas as useful evidence of possession and of a claim to the land. They do not treat it as proof of title.

Ownership comes from a valid deed or inheritance, supported by the record of rights (khatian) and namjari. Paying tax on someone else’s land gives you no right to it. Equally, the true owner does not lose the land just because a stranger has been paying the tax.

Still, keep your dakhilas. When you sell, the buyer and the sub-registrar will want to see that tax is paid up to date, and a clean payment history helps in any later dispute. Heirs should note that paying tax in a dead parent’s name does not divide the land or put it in their names. For that they need a warish certificate and namjari. See our guide on namjari.