VAT Registration (BIN) in Bangladesh 2026: Who Needs It, the Tk 50 Lakh Threshold, Online Steps, Check, Download and Cancel

In this guide: The thresholds, and who must register regardless · How to register: Mushak 2.1 on e-VAT · Checking, downloading and using a BIN · E-commerce, Facebook sellers and startups · Cancelling a registration

The short answer

You must register for VAT and obtain a Business Identification Number (BIN) once your taxable turnover in any twelve-month period exceeds Tk 50 lakh, or is projected to. Turnover between Tk 30 lakh and Tk 50 lakh calls for enlistment for turnover tax instead, at 4% of turnover (the Finance Bill proposed removing the Tk 30 lakh floor; that was not enacted, so it stays; NBR may notify sector-specific amounts up to Tk 2 lakh, and the tax period for enlisted persons is now the calendar month). Below that, neither is required — unless you fall in the s.4(2) list of businesses that must register regardless of size. The application is form Mushak 2.1 on vat.gov.bd (e-VAT), within 15 days of becoming liable; the system issues the BIN on a valid application and e-mails the certificate. The reason small businesses now ask us about BIN is s.4(3), inserted by the Finance Act 2026: without a BIN or enlistment certificate a bank will not open a business current account or lend, the city corporation will not renew the trade licence, and the MFS operator will not open a merchant account.

The thresholds, and who must register regardless

“Turnover” for this purpose excludes exempt supplies, sales of capital assets and the sale of the business itself. The threshold was Tk 3 crore from 2019 until the VAT and SD (Amendment) Ordinance of 9 January 2025 cut it to Tk 50 lakh; the Finance Act 2026 left it there. We are treating the Tk 30 lakh enlistment floor as current but note that NBR’s 2026-27 instruction describes the definition as amended — confirm with your divisional office if you sit near it.

Registration regardless of turnover (s.4(2)). A person who (a) manufactures, imports or supplies goods or services subject to supplementary duty; (b) supplies against a tender, contract or work order; (c) carries on import or export business; (d) is a branch, liaison or project office of a foreign company; (e) acts as a VAT agent; or (f) operates in a geographic area or product category the Board has specified — must register from the first taka. The last limb is how NBR brings shopping malls and particular commercial areas into the net by notification.

Voluntary registration is open to anyone below the threshold and is often sensible for a business that sells to VAT-registered customers, who can only claim input credit against a registered supplier’s invoice. A voluntary registrant cannot cancel within the first year (s.8).

How to register: Mushak 2.1 on e-VAT

1. Timing. You become liable from the first day of the month after your trailing 12-month turnover crosses Tk 50 lakh, or from the month in which a 12-month projection does. Apply within 15 days of that date (Rule 4 as replaced by SRO 125 of 7 June 2026); enlistment applications have 30 days.
2. Create a user account on vat.gov.bd with the owner’s or an authorised person’s NID and mobile.
3. Complete Mushak 2.1 (Mushak 2.2 for a non-resident). The 2026 form asks for the central BIN and any branches, every bank account, the owners or directors, and the persons authorised to act online. The documents the system and the officer typically ask for: trade licence, TIN certificate, NID and photograph of the owner or managing director, bank account details, proof of the business premises (deed or rent agreement), and for importers the IRC; companies add the incorporation certificate, memorandum and articles and Form XII.
4. Submit. Registration is now automated: on a valid application the BIN is generated at once and the certificate, Mushak 2.3, is e-mailed. Importers and exporters can also be registered through the customs system at the first bill of entry. Where the application is defective the officer notifies you to correct it.
5. Display the certificate at each place of business — failure costs Tk 10,000 (s.85(1)(b)).

A business with several outlets may hold a central registration covering its branches or register each branch; the choice affects where input credit is claimed and returns filed. Changes to the registered information — address, bank, directors, branches — must be notified within 15 days on the same forms (Rule 12).

Checking, downloading and using a BIN

A BIN is a 13-digit number. Your own certificate is downloaded from your e-VAT account; anyone can check whether a BIN is valid and active through the public verification on vat.gov.bd, which is what your customers do before accepting your Mushak 6.3 invoice for input credit. Keep the certificate current: a BIN that shows “inactive” or “cancelled” to a customer costs you the sale.

Since 1 July 2026, s.4(3) requires proof of BIN or enlistment for a list of everyday business transactions: opening or operating a current or STD account with a bank or financial institution; taking a loan; renewing a trade licence; opening an MFS merchant account; membership or renewal of a trade body; electricity and gas connections; and registering a vehicle in a business name with BRTA. In practice this means every registered business must keep its BIN certificate and its latest return acknowledgement to hand, and every business near the Tk 30 lakh line must decide whether to enlist before the bank asks.

E-commerce, Facebook sellers and startups

There is no separate VAT regime for online sellers. The same tests apply: turnover above Tk 50 lakh means registration; between Tk 30 and 50 lakh, enlistment; and the s.4(2) list applies if, say, you import for resale. What has changed is enforcement: an MFS merchant account and a business bank account now require a BIN, and the marketplaces themselves hold BINs and report their sellers’ sales. Commission charged by an online marketplace is a taxable service in its own right; see our sector rates guide for the online-marketplace and online-advertising rates introduced in 2026.

Startups registered under NBR’s startup definition have, by SRO 147 of 11 June 2026, exemption from VAT on their local supplies, imported services and premises rent from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2035, and buyers are not to deduct VAT at source from them. The exemption does not remove the registration duty; it changes what goes in the return.

Cancelling a registration

You may apply on Mushak 2.4 to cancel registration or enlistment if the business never started, has closed, has become dormant, or its turnover has stayed below the threshold for two consecutive years (s.9 and Rule 8). The officer issues a show-cause, you reply within 15 working days, and the registration is cancelled from a date the officer fixes; any arrears, and the VAT on stock and capital goods on hand, remain recoverable. A business that falls below the threshold may instead convert to enlistment. Voluntary registrants must wait a year. Cancelling does not cancel the obligation to have filed the returns for every period up to the cancellation date — a dormant BIN with missing returns accumulates the late-filing penalty month by month, which is the commonest unpleasant surprise we see when a closed business tries to tidy up.