Policy Development·
VAT in Bangladesh - 6 Months Into 2026. Digitisation, Base Expansion and the IMF.
Bangladesh entered 2026 in a difficult fiscal position. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) had closed FY25 with a record shortfall of approximately Tk 92,625 crore against its revised target, and the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio slid to around 6.5–6.8%, one of the lowest in the world for an economy of comparable size. Against that backdrop, the first half of 2026 has been dominated by three parallel processes: the rapid digitisation of tax administration through the eVAT platform, a major restructuring of the VAT base in the FY2026-27 budget, and a contested renegotiation of the terms of IMF support that placed the uniform 15% VAT reform at the centre of international attention.
