Filing your monthly VAT return (Mushak 9.1)

The return reports what you sold, the VAT you collected on it, the VAT you paid your suppliers, and the difference — which is what you pay NBR, or carry forward if your inputs were larger than your outputs.

The deadline

The 15th of the month after the one you are reporting on. A return for January is due by 15 February. If the 15th is a public holiday the next working day applies. Late returns carry interest and a penalty, so filing an imperfect return on time beats filing a perfect one late.

A month with no sales still needs a return — a nil return. Missing months are what turn a small problem into an expensive one, because the penalty accrues per return rather than per taka.

What you need in front of you

• Total sales for the month, split by VAT rate where you sell at more than one.
• VAT collected on those sales.
• Purchases from VAT-registered suppliers, with their invoices.
• VAT paid on those purchases — your input tax.

PoedApp’s VAT return report adds up the first two for any month, broken down by rate, so the sales half of the return is a screen rather than an evening with a calculator. Purchases are only as complete as what you entered, which is the real argument for recording supplier bills as they arrive.

Returns are filed online at vat.gov.bd. Many small shops use a VAT consultant for the first few months and take it over once they have seen it done — which is a reasonable way to learn it.

This is a plain-language guide, not tax advice. VAT rates, thresholds and forms change with each year’s Finance Act. Confirm anything that affects what you pay with NBR (nbr.gov.bd), your local VAT office, or a VAT consultant before you act on it.