In 2026 Bangladesh does not have e-invoicing the way Saudi Arabia and the UAE mean it: no NBR platform clears or receives each invoice before it is valid. What the VAT Rules 2016 do require of a POS or ERP is concrete. A tax invoice in Form Mushak 6.3 with the fields in Rule 40(1)(c), including the actual date and time and the buyer's BIN once a sale passes Tk 25,000. Purchase and sales books VAT-6.1, 6.2 and 6.2.1 kept "in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software System" under Rule 40(1)(bbb), a clause inserted by SRO No. 158-Law/2025/286-VAT, dated 27 May 2025, effective 1 July 2025. NBR-enlisted VAT software once turnover passes Tk 5 crore, according to PwC's Bangladesh tax summary (reviewed 31 July 2026); NBR's list held 55 enlisted firms on 5 September 2026. An EFD or SDC device in the 24 retail business types NBR has named. And, from 1 July 2026, VAT returns filed online only, quarterly.
According to BengalTech's 2026 price list, a custom POS built in Dhaka that prints the full Mushak 6.3, numbers invoices per outlet and fiscal year, and exports the VAT-6.10 return starts at $2,200 one-time, and a custom SME ERP that keeps the VAT-6.1, 6.2 and 6.2.1 books is $7,500 – $14,000. This guide is written for the operator deciding what to build or buy; it is not tax advice, and the thresholds move with each Finance Act, so the dates beside each figure matter.
The five numbers in the Rules
- Tk 25,000: the sale value above which the buyer's name, address and BIN must be on the invoice (Rule 40(1)(c)(iv)).
- Tk 2 lakh: the invoice value above which purchase and sale information goes to the VAT Online system in Form VAT-6.10 (Rule 42).
- Tk 5 crore: the previous-year turnover above which NBR-enlisted software is mandatory (PwC, 31 July 2026).
- Tk 50 lakh: the turnover above which VAT registration is required; Tk 30 lakh to Tk 50 lakh pays 4% turnover tax instead of 15% VAT (PwC, 31 July 2026).
- Tk 10,000: the Act's penalty for not issuing a tax invoice or not keeping records in the prescribed manner (s.85, see the caveat below).
What every tax invoice must carry
Rule 40(1)(c) of the VAT Rules 2016 lists the invoice procedure item by item. The table is the rule, not a summary of it; each line names the sub-clause so your developer can check the source. Two lines changed recently: the buyer-BIN threshold was set at Tk 25,000 by SRO No. 135-Law/2024/241-VAT, dated 27 May 2024, and Rule 40(7) (inserted in June 2020) lets the Board declare a registered person's own invoice format a tax invoice by gazette order, which is how a receipt layout that is not the printed Mushak 6.3 form can still be lawful.
| Required on the invoice | Source |
|---|---|
| One invoice per supply, in Form Mushak 6.3 | Rule 40(1)(c)(i) |
| Actual date and time of issue | Rule 40(1)(c)(ii) |
| Name, address and BIN of the supplier | Rule 40(1)(c)(iii) |
| Name, address and BIN of the purchaser when the supply exceeds Tk 25,000 | Rule 40(1)(c)(iv), SRO No. 135-Law/2024/241-VAT, dated 27 May 2024 |
| Description and quantity of the goods; date, time, nature and number of the transport | Rule 40(1)(c)(v) |
| Value of the supply without VAT | Rule 40(1)(c)(vi) |
| VAT rate applicable to the supply | Rule 40(1)(c)(vii) |
| Amount of VAT payable | Rule 40(1)(c)(viii) |
| Value plus VAT, totalled | Rule 40(1)(c)(ix) |
| Serial number that restarts each fiscal year | Rule 40(1)(c)(x) |
| A separate serial series for each place of supply, naming the place | Rule 40(1)(c)(xi) |
| At least 2 copies; the original goes to the buyer | Rule 40(1)(c) |
The 2025 rule most vendors have not noticed: your books must live in an ERP
SRO No. 158-Law/2025/286-VAT, dated 27 May 2025, effective 1 July 2025, inserted clause (bbb) into Rule 40(1): "A registered person shall preserve VAT-6.1, VAT-6.2 and VAT-6.2.1 in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software System." VAT-6.1 is the purchase book, VAT-6.2 the sales book and VAT-6.2.1 the purchase-sale book for goods traded without processing. Before this clause the Rules said what the books contained; they now also say where they are kept. Read with PwC's note that NBR-approved software is mandatory above Tk 5 crore turnover, the practical position for a trading or retail company of that size is that the ledger has to be a system, not a spreadsheet exported at quarter end.
Rule 42 is the reporting half. Any registered or enlisted person sends the details of every invoice above Tk 2 lakh, issued or received, to the VAT Computer System in Form VAT-6.10 (Rule 42(1)); the Board may issue a guideline on the format, security and "conditions and procedures for enlistment of software" (42(3)); the enlisted list is published on NBR's website (42(4)), which is the 55-firm list; and, once the infrastructure exists, the Board "may obtain necessary information in the VAT Computer System from the POS, ECR, software or any other sale machine used by the taxpayer from the date determined by an order" (42(5)). Rule 42(6) then allows a person already running their own software to keep it "if found commensurate" with the guideline. That last sub-rule is the one a custom build relies on: the system is yours, and it has to be able to prove it matches the guideline when asked.
For an operator, Rule 42(5) is the sentence to plan around. Bangladesh has no live reporting mandate today, but the Rules already reserve the Board's right to switch one on by order, and the device contractor was hired to build the interface for it. A POS that keeps its sales ledger in a structured store with a read interface turns that order into a configuration change; a POS that keeps sales in printed rolls turns it into a rebuild. The wider VAT rewrite in the Bangladesh POS buyer's checklist and the ERP buyer's checklist both start from this section.
EFD and SDC: where the device programme stands
An Electronic Fiscal Device replaces the cash register and stores every sale; a Sales Data Controller does the same job attached to an existing POS or invoicing system. Both connect to NBR's central VAT server, and each device carries its own code under the business's BIN (The Business Standard, 10 December 2023). NBR began installing them in August 2020 at 24 types of business, after a December 2018 tender for a first 10,000 devices at Tk 32,000 each, and had reached about 4,000 installations by May 2022 (The Daily Star, 31 May 2022), 7,397 EFDs and 435 SDCs by November 2022, and roughly 18,000 by December 2023 against a five-year target of 3.5 lakh establishments.
Since August 2022 the roll-out is outsourced. Genex Infosys installs and monitors the devices at its own cost under a 10-year agreement, earning a 0.53 percent commission on the VAT collected through them, with a target of 60,000 devices a year and 3 lakh within five years in the Dhaka and Chattogram commissionerates, at an installation cost the company put at around Tk 1,000 crore (The Business Standard, 6 November 2022). The same disclosure said Genex would "develop a software solution, termed VAT API system for interfacing with EFD/SDC machines and integrating with ERP/POS solutions existing in the market". That is the interface a custom POS should be designed to meet. Sector orders keep widening the net: in March 2025 NBR made EFD or SDC installation mandatory at every hotel and restaurant on the country's highways (The Financial Express, March 2025). NBR publishes the list of establishments using EFD or SDC by BIN and device model.
The honest reading of those numbers: the device programme is years behind its own targets, and enforcement in the field has been uneven, which The Daily Star's 2022 shop visits documented. That is not a reason to ignore it. It is the reason a POS bought or built today should already write the fields a fiscal device expects, so the day a device or an API order reaches your sector is a configuration day, not a replacement day.
What changed on 1 July 2026
- Manual VAT returns are gone. PwC (reviewed 31 July 2026) records that filing of manual returns is completely dispensed with from 1 July 2026, with returns filed online through the NBR portal; the quarterly return in Form Mushak 9.1 is due within 15 days of the quarter end.
- Quarterly, not monthly. The Finance Act 2026, as explained by Tuhin & Partners (9 July 2026), moves VAT returns from monthly to quarterly filing, from twelve filings a year to four, and has the eVAT system issue an enlistment certificate within 30 days once turnover crosses Tk 30 lakh.
- A BIN to open a business bank account. The FY2026-27 budget makes VAT registration and a Business Identification Number mandatory for opening a business account at any bank, links NBR's database to the national ID, bank, utility and sub-registry databases, and proposes 0.2 percent advance income tax on goods supplied to retailers, equal to Tk 2 per Tk 1,000 (The Daily Star, 12 June 2026).
- The paper backlog closed. The 30 June 2026 deadline for entering old paper returns into the e-VAT system passed with closing balances frozen for businesses that missed it (Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha).
Thresholds are the part of this page most likely to age. NBR's own FAQ page still shows the figures from the 2019 launch, while PwC's summary reviewed on 31 July 2026 gives registration above Tk 50 lakh and 4% turnover tax between Tk 30 lakh to Tk 50 lakh. Check the figure against the current Finance Act before you rely on it: the budget measures are in The Daily Star's budget report, the Act's VAT changes in Tuhin & Partners' explainer, and the backlog rules in the BSS report on the e-VAT deadline for the backlog rules.
Seven things a custom POS or ERP must do for NBR
- Print every Mushak 6.3 field in Rule 40(1)(c), with the date and time from the server clock and the buyer's BIN captured whenever a sale passes Tk 25,000.
- Number invoices per fiscal year and per outlet, so a three-branch chain runs three serial series that reset on 1 July.
- Keep VAT-6.1 (purchases), VAT-6.2 (sales) and VAT-6.2.1 (traded goods) inside the system as the books themselves, not as an export, because Rule 40(1)(bbb) now names the ERP as where they live.
- Flag every invoice above Tk 2 lakh for the VAT-6.10 information return under Rule 42, and export it in the layout the VAT Online system accepts.
- Talk to an EFD or SDC when the outlet is one of the 24 mandated types: the device holds the fiscal record, so the till prints the device's receipt rather than a second, unfiscalised one of its own.
- Expose a read interface for the NBR VAT API that Genex was contracted to build for ERP and POS integration, so the connection is a configuration step when the order under Rule 42(5) is issued.
- Produce the quarterly Mushak 9.1 figures from the ledgers without re-keying, since from 1 July 2026 the return is filed online and nowhere else.
None of these needs an NBR device to exist first. They are database and print-layout decisions, which is why they cost nothing extra in a build that makes them on day one and a great deal in one that retrofits them. For the restaurant-specific rules, including the 15% versus 5% rate history, see the restaurant POS guide; for supermarkets, the super shop POS guide.
The penalty table
Section 85 of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 gives the Commissioner a table of monetary penalties. The rows below are from the English text NBR publishes, which is the original 2012 schedule; Finance Acts since have amended parts of the Act, so treat the amounts as the floor and confirm the current figure with your adviser. The penalty is payable on top of the tax, interest and any fine, and the Commissioner must issue a notice and hear you first (s.85(4), (5)).
| Non-compliance | Penalty | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Not issuing a tax invoice, credit note, debit note or withholding certificate | Tk 10,000 | s.85(1)(j) |
| Not keeping records in the prescribed manner | Tk 10,000 | s.85(1)(k) |
| Not filing the VAT or turnover tax return in time | Tk 10,000 | s.85(1)(f) |
| Not including output tax in the return | Twice the output tax omitted | s.85(1)(g) |
| Taking more input tax credit than entitled | Twice the credit taken irregularly | s.85(1)(h) |
| Wilfully evading or attempting to evade assessment or payment | Twice the tax evaded | s.85(1)(m) |
Bangladesh next to Saudi Arabia and the UAE
If you also sell in the Gulf, the three regimes ask for different things from the same code. Saudi Arabia's ZATCA Phase 2 clears each invoice through its platform with a cryptographic stamp and a QR code, covered in the ZATCA Phase 2 POS guide. The UAE's 2027 system reports through an accredited service provider on the Peppol model, covered in the UAE e-invoicing guide. Bangladesh, as of 5 September 2026, asks for the invoice fields, the books in a system, enlisted software above a threshold, a fiscal device in named sectors, and online returns. Build the ledger once with the fields all three need and each country becomes a print layout and a connector, which is the approach BengalTech takes on its custom POS and custom ERP builds.
What it costs to build it in
According to BengalTech's 2026 price list, a custom single-counter POS built in Dhaka starts at $2,200, a multi-staff outlet starts at $3,400 and a multi-branch chain on one stock ledger starts at $5,900, one-time. A custom SME ERP that keeps the VAT-6.1, 6.2 and 6.2.1 books is $7,500 – $14,000; a multi-branch mid-market ERP is $14,000 – $28,000. A POS/ERP support contract runs $200 – $380/month.
The Mushak 6.3 layout, fiscal-year and per-outlet serials, the VAT-6.10 export and the structured sales ledger are in every tier. What is quoted separately is a specific EFD or SDC model integration once your sector's order names a device, and the NBR VAT API connection once its specification is published. Prices by tier and add-on are in the POS price guide and the ERP price guide, each with a cost estimator. Prices by module: Starts at $2,200 is the floor for the POS, and every figure on this page is one BengalTech publishes, not a quote.
Sources
External references behind the figures and claims on this page. Rate bands and vendor pricing move — check the source before quoting a number.
- Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Rules, 2016 (authentic English text, as amended to the 10 November 2025 gazette)
National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh
Rule 40(1)(c): the VAT invoice procedure in Form VAT-6.3 — one invoice per supply; actual date and time; supplier name, address and BIN; purchaser name, address and BIN where the supply exceeds Tk 25,000 (substituted by SRO No. 135-Law/2024/241-VAT, 27 May 2024); description, quantity and transport details; value without VAT; rate; VAT payable; total; fiscal-year serial numbers; separate serials per place of supply; at least two copies. Rule 40(1)(bbb), inserted by SRO No. 158-Law/2025/286-VAT dated 27 May 2025 with effect from 1 July 2025: a registered person shall preserve VAT-6.1, VAT-6.2 and VAT-6.2.1 in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software System. Rule 40(7): the Board may declare a registered person's own invoice format a tax invoice by gazette order. Rule 42: purchase and sale information for invoices above Tk 2 lakh in Form VAT-6.10 to the VAT Computer System; the Board may issue a guideline and conditions for enlistment of software, publishes the enlisted list on its website, may obtain information from the POS, ECR, software or any other sale machine from a date fixed by order, and allows existing own software if made commensurate with the guideline.
- The Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012 (Act No. 47 of 2012), English text
National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh
Section 85 penalty table as published: Tk 10,000 for not issuing a tax invoice, credit note, debit note or withholding certificate, for not keeping records in the prescribed manner, and for not filing the return in time; twice the output tax not included, twice the input credit irregularly taken, and twice the tax evaded; notice and hearing before a penalty is imposed; the penalty is additional to tax, interest and fine. The page notes this is the original schedule and that later Finance Acts have amended parts of the Act.
- NBR enlisted software firms
National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh
The list of VAT software firms enlisted under Rule 42(4), 55 firms on 5 September 2026.
- List of establishments using EFD (Electronic Fiscal Device) or SDC (Sales Data Controller)
National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh
NBR publishes the establishments using EFD or SDC by BIN and device model (SZZT ZT8350 and ZT8050 among them).
- VAT FAQ
National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh
NBR's FAQ still states the registration threshold at Tk 8 million and enlistment at Tk 3 million from the 2019 launch — quoted only to show that thresholds on official pages lag the Finance Acts.
- Bangladesh — Corporate: Other taxes (VAT)
PwC
Reviewed 31 July 2026: VAT registration above BDT 5 million turnover; turnover tax at 4 percent between BDT 3 million and 5 million; the 15 percent standard rate; every registered or to-be-registered person whose sales turnover exceeded BDT 50 million in the previous financial year must use NBR-approved software; the Mushak 6.3 invoice must carry the name, address and BIN of buyer and seller; filing of manual returns dispensed with from 1 July 2026 with returns online through the NBR portal; the quarterly Mushak 9.1 return due within 15 days of the quarter end.
- Installation of electronic fiscal devices at snail's pace (10 December 2023)
The Business Standard
About 18,000 EFD installations in three years from 2020 against a five-year target of 3.5 lakh establishments; what an EFD and an SDC are and that each device carries its own code under the business BIN and connects to the central VAT server; the NBR chairman's statement of 60,000 devices a year and three lakh in five years under the Genex agreement signed in August 2023; the 2018 tender for 10,000 devices to the SZZT and Synesis IT consortium.
- NBR deal to give Genex Infosys 200% revenue boost (6 November 2022)
The Business Standard
Genex Infosys's 10-year agreement to install and operate EFDs and SDCs at its own cost for a 0.53 percent commission on the VAT collected; 3 lakh devices in five years, 60,000 a year, in the Dhaka and Chattogram commissionerates; installation cost of around Tk 1,000 crore; 7,397 EFDs and 435 SDCs installed so far at that date; the disclosure that Genex would develop a VAT API system for interfacing with EFD/SDC machines and integrating with ERP and POS solutions.
- NBR's struggle to collect VAT from retails continuing for years (31 May 2022)
The Daily Star
EFDs launched in August 2020 at 24 types of business including shops, hotels, restaurants, sweet stores, clothing, furniture and electronics outlets and jewellers; the December 2018 tender and initial order of 10,000 devices at Tk 32,000 each from the SZZT and Synesis IT consortium; about 4,000 installed by May 2022; the receipt lottery; the correspondents' shop visits finding receipts not issued.
- Installation of EFD/SDC mandatory at hotels, restaurants located on highways: NBR (March 2025)
The Financial Express
EFD or SDC installation made mandatory at every hotel and restaurant on the country's highways — the sector-by-sector pattern of the roll-out.
- Relief for low-income groups, businesses — Bangladesh budget 2026-27 (12 June 2026)
The Daily Star
From FY2026-27, VAT registration and a Business Identification Number mandatory for opening a business bank account; NBR's database linked to the national ID, bank, utility and sub-registry databases; the proposed 0.20 percent advance income tax on goods supplied to retailers (Tk 2 per Tk 1,000); the NBR revenue target of Tk 6.04 lakh crore.
- The Finance Act 2026, explained: what changed in Bangladesh's tax, VAT and customs law (9 July 2026)
Tuhin & Partners
VAT returns moving from monthly to quarterly filing; automatic eVAT enlistment with a certificate within 30 days once turnover crosses Tk 30 lakh; appeal deposits cut from 10 percent to 1 percent at Commissioner and Tribunal level.
- NBR extends deadline for e-VAT return
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha
The 30 June 2026 deadline for entering paper returns into the e-VAT system, and the frozen closing balances for businesses that missed it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is e-invoicing mandatory in Bangladesh in 2026?
Not in the sense Saudi Arabia or the UAE use the word. There is no NBR clearance or reporting platform that every invoice must pass through before it is valid. What is mandatory is the Mushak 6.3 tax invoice with the fields in Rule 40(1)(c) of the VAT Rules 2016, purchase and sales books kept in an ERP software system under Rule 40(1)(bbb) (in force since 1 July 2025), NBR-enlisted VAT software for businesses above Tk 5 crore turnover, and EFD or SDC devices in the 24 retail business types NBR has named. Rule 42(5) lets the Board start pulling sales data from any POS, ECR or software by order, which is the hook a future e-invoicing mandate would hang on.
What must a Mushak 6.3 invoice contain?
Under Rule 40(1)(c): one invoice per supply; the actual date and time; the supplier's name, address and BIN; the purchaser's name, address and BIN when the supply exceeds Tk 25,000; a description of the goods and the transport details; the value without VAT; the VAT rate; the VAT amount; the total; a serial number that restarts each fiscal year, with a separate series for each place of supply; and at least 2 copies with the original given to the buyer.
Does my business have to use NBR-approved VAT software?
According to PwC's Bangladesh tax summary (reviewed 31 July 2026), every registered or to-be-registered person whose sales turnover exceeded Tk 5 crore in the previous financial year must use NBR-approved software. NBR's own enlisted list carried 55 software firms on 5 September 2026. Rule 42(6) of the VAT Rules also allows a person already using their own software to keep using it if it is made to match the Board's guideline, which is the route a custom-built ERP takes.
Which businesses must install an EFD or SDC?
NBR began installing Electronic Fiscal Devices in August 2020 at 24 types of business, including shops, hotels, restaurants, sweet stores, clothing, furniture and electronics outlets and jewellers (The Daily Star, 31 May 2022), and has since added sector orders such as every highway hotel and restaurant (The Financial Express, March 2025). Since August 2022 the devices are installed by Genex Infosys under a 10-year contract for a 0.53 percent commission on the VAT they collect, with a target of 60,000 devices a year and 3 lakh in five years (The Business Standard, 6 November 2022).
What changes on 1 July 2026?
PwC records that filing of manual VAT returns is completely dispensed with from 1 July 2026; returns go through the NBR online portal only. The Finance Act 2026, as explained by Tuhin & Partners, moves VAT returns from monthly to quarterly filing and has the eVAT system issue an enlistment certificate within 30 days once turnover crosses Tk 30 lakh. The FY2026-27 budget also makes VAT registration and a BIN mandatory to open a business bank account and proposes 0.2 percent advance income tax on goods supplied to retailers (The Daily Star, 12 June 2026).
How much does a VAT-compliant custom POS or ERP cost in Bangladesh?
According to BengalTech's 2026 price list, a custom single-counter POS starts at $2,200, a multi-staff outlet starts at $3,400 and a multi-branch chain starts at $5,900, one-time; a custom SME ERP that keeps the VAT-6.1, 6.2 and 6.2.1 books is $7,500 – $14,000. The Mushak 6.3 layout, fiscal-year serials and the VAT-6.10 export are part of every tier, not add-ons. A support contract runs $200 – $380/month.
Garments factory? See the full compliance picture
NBR's VAT rules are one requirement among several that RMG buyers now expect from a factory's systems. The sourced reference on garments ERP compliance requirements covers what RSC, amfori BSCI, WRAP, Higg FEM and NBR each actually require, from each standard's own documents. The accounting side this guide leaves out, the Income Tax Act's bank-transfer rule, the TDS uplift and the CA-certified statements, is in the accounting software features guide.
Want the Rule 40 fields, the ERP-kept books and the VAT-6.10 export built in from the first sale? BengalTech builds accounting software, POS systems and ERP systems in Dhaka with the NBR requirements as the schema, not as a report bolted on later. Ask for a fixed quote.