Bangladesh VAT
Mushak forms and VAT compliance in Bangladesh
The complete index: what each numbered form is, who has to produce it, when it is due, and the rates and thresholds behind all of it. Written for the person who has to keep the books, not for a search engine.
Reviewed
The short answer
Mushak means VAT. A VAT-registered business in Bangladesh issues a Mushak 6.3 tax invoice on every taxable supply, keeps a purchase register (6.1) and a sales register (6.2, or the combined 6.2.1 book if it trades without processing goods), and files a Mushak 9.1 return within 15 days of the quarter end if you file quarterly, which is now the default, or by the last day of the following month if you have opted to file monthly. Records are kept for 5 years.
Which book you keep depends on what your business does to the goods it sells. That one distinction is behind most of the confusion between 6.1, 6.2 and 6.2.1.
Every Mushak form, and what each one is for
Mushak is simply the Bangla word for VAT, and the numbered Mushak forms are the paperwork the VAT and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 and its Rules 2016 require of a registered business. Most of the confusion in this area comes from the numbering rather than the substance: 6.1, 6.2, 6.2.1 and 6.3 sound like variants of one document and are in fact four different obligations.
Read the table by the who column. The book you must keep depends on what your business does to the goods it sells, and that single distinction resolves most of the questions people arrive here with.
| Form | What it is | Who | How often |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mushak 6.1 | Purchase register. The book of every purchase you made, and the input VAT you paid on it. | Every VAT-registered business. | Written up as purchases happen, summarised monthly into Mushak 9.1. |
| Mushak 6.2 | Sales register. The book of every sale you made, and the output VAT on it. | Businesses that produce or process goods. | Written up as sales happen, summarised monthly into Mushak 9.1. |
| Mushak 6.2.1 | Combined purchase and sales account book. One book covering both sides, for traders who buy and resell without processing the goods. | Traders who do not manufacture or process what they sell. | Written up daily, summarised monthly into Mushak 9.1. |
| Mushak 6.3 | VAT tax invoice (challan). The tax invoice you must hand your buyer on a taxable supply. Their input-tax claim depends on it. | Every VAT-registered supplier, on every taxable supply. | One per supply, at the time of supply. |
| Mushak 6.6 | VDS certificate. The certificate a withholding entity issues to a supplier for the VAT it deducted at source. | Withholding entities that deduct VAT at source. | Per deduction, within the statutory window. |
| Mushak 9.1 | VAT return. The periodic return: output VAT on your sales, netted against the input VAT you are entitled to claim. | Every VAT-registered business, including in a period with no activity. | Quarterly by default, within 15 days of the quarter end if you file quarterly, which is now the default, or by the last day of the following month if you have opted to file monthly. |
| Mushak 2.1 | Registration or enlistment application. The application you submit to get a BIN. | A business crossing the registration or enlistment threshold. | Once, plus on any change of particulars. |
As of , per the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 and its Rules 2016, and the Income Tax Act 2023, as amended by the Finance Act 2026. Rates, thresholds and schedules in Bangladesh are re-issued by SRO, often mid-year, and the figures here are drawn from professional secondary sources because NBR's own site was not reachable at review time. Confirm with your VAT consultant before you rely on any figure here. NBR is the authority; this page is not.
VAT rates in force
The standard rate is 15%. Everything else in the table is an exception granted to a named supply, either as a reduced rate or on a truncated base, and the exception belongs to the supply rather than to the supplier. A business can and routinely does issue invoices at two different rates in the same week.
| Rate | Applies as | Basis | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15% | Standard VAT | Value of supply for most goods and services | VAT and SD Act 2012, section 15(1) |
| 7.5% | Reduced VAT | Specified services supplied on a truncated base. Reported to cover packing and self-copy paper, non-air-conditioned hotels and construction firms, among others. | VAT and SD Act 2012, third schedule and SRO |
| 5% | Reduced VAT | Specified goods and services. Reported to cover specified fruit juice, pickles, IT-enabled services and internet services, among others. | VAT and SD Act 2012, third schedule and SRO |
| 2.4% | Reduced VAT | Specified supplies on a truncated base | VAT and SD Act 2012, third schedule and SRO |
| 4% | Turnover tax | Annual turnover of an enlisted (not registered) small business. Turnover tax is paid instead of VAT. An enlisted business claims no input-tax credit and issues no Mushak 6.3. | VAT and SD Act 2012, section 63 |
| 0% | Zero-rated | Exports and deemed exports. Zero-rated is not the same as exempt. A zero-rated supplier still registers, still files, and still claims input tax. | VAT and SD Act 2012, section 21 |
| 0% | Exempt | Supplies listed in the first schedule. An exempt supply carries no output VAT and no input-tax credit. | VAT and SD Act 2012, section 26 |
Supplementary duty sits on top of VAT for listed goods and services, and the order of operations matters: SD is applied to the value first, and VAT is charged on the SD-inclusive figure. Reversing the two understates the VAT base, which is one of the more common findings in an audit.
| Rate | Basis | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| 5% | Value before VAT, on listed goods and services | VAT and SD Act 2012, second schedule |
| 10% | Value before VAT, on listed goods and services | VAT and SD Act 2012, second schedule |
| 20% | Value before VAT, on listed goods and services | VAT and SD Act 2012, second schedule |
| 45% | Value before VAT, on listed goods and services | VAT and SD Act 2012, second schedule |
As of , per the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 and its Rules 2016, and the Income Tax Act 2023, as amended by the Finance Act 2026. Rates, thresholds and schedules in Bangladesh are re-issued by SRO, often mid-year, and the figures here are drawn from professional secondary sources because NBR's own site was not reachable at review time. Confirm with your VAT consultant before you rely on any figure here. NBR is the authority; this page is not.
The monthly compliance calendar
VAT compliance in Bangladesh is a monthly rhythm, not an annual one. The registers are written continuously, the return closes the month, and the payment follows the return.
| When | What | Which form |
|---|---|---|
| At the time of each supply | Issue the tax invoice to the buyer | Mushak 6.3 |
| As transactions happen | Write up the purchase and sales books | Mushak 6.1, 6.2 or 6.2.1 |
| Quarterly within 15 days of the quarter end, or monthly by the last day of the following month if you elected it | File the return and pay any net VAT due | Mushak 9.1 |
| For 5 years | Retain every challan, register and return | All of them |
As of , per the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 and its Rules 2016, and the Income Tax Act 2023, as amended by the Finance Act 2026. Rates, thresholds and schedules in Bangladesh are re-issued by SRO, often mid-year, and the figures here are drawn from professional secondary sources because NBR's own site was not reachable at review time. Confirm with your VAT consultant before you rely on any figure here. NBR is the authority; this page is not.
Who must register, and who only enlists
These are two different statuses with two different sets of obligations, and the difference decides whether you issue Mushak 6.3 at all. An enlisted small business pays turnover tax on its receipts, claims no input tax and issues no tax invoice. A registered business charges VAT, claims input tax, issues 6.3 on every taxable supply and files 9.1 on the cadence its registration sits on.
| Annual turnover | Status | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Above BDT 5,000,000 | Annual turnover above the enlistment floor | Enlist for turnover tax. You get a BIN, you pay turnover tax on receipts, and you issue no Mushak 6.3. |
| Above BDT 30,000,000 | Annual turnover above the registration threshold | Register for VAT. You get a 13-digit BIN, issue Mushak 6.3 on every taxable supply, and file Mushak 9.1 on the cadence your registration is placed on. |
Registration itself is free. Any business is also free to register voluntarily below the threshold, and many do, because a registered buyer will often not deal with a supplier who cannot issue a Mushak 6.3 against their input-tax claim. Whichever route you take, the output is a 13-digit BIN.
As of , per the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 and its Rules 2016, and the Income Tax Act 2023, as amended by the Finance Act 2026. Rates, thresholds and schedules in Bangladesh are re-issued by SRO, often mid-year, and the figures here are drawn from professional secondary sources because NBR's own site was not reachable at review time. Confirm with your VAT consultant before you rely on any figure here. NBR is the authority; this page is not.
What non-compliance actually costs
The Act sets monetary penalties for late filing, for failure to register, for failure to issue a tax invoice and for failure to keep the prescribed records, and it sets interest on VAT paid late. The specific figures are amended by Finance Act, so read them from the current Act rather than from any website, this one included.
The cost that is easier to underestimate is commercial rather than statutory. Three consequences show up long before a penalty notice does:
- Your buyer cannot claim their input tax on a defective or missing challan, so the tax becomes a real cost to them, and they take it out of your next price negotiation.
- A gap in your challan sequence has to be explained, and the explanation is your burden, not the auditor's.
- Input tax you failed to record in time is simply lost. Nothing recovers it once the claim window closes.
As of , per the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 and its Rules 2016, and the Income Tax Act 2023, as amended by the Finance Act 2026. Rates, thresholds and schedules in Bangladesh are re-issued by SRO, often mid-year, and the figures here are drawn from professional secondary sources because NBR's own site was not reachable at review time. Confirm with your VAT consultant before you rely on any figure here. NBR is the authority; this page is not.
Free tools
Both are free, run entirely in your browser, and ask for no sign-up. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
- Mushak 6.3 generator. Fill the fields, get a print-ready tax invoice layout.
- VDS and TDS calculator. Pick the category, enter the invoice amount, see the deduction and the net payable with the section it comes from.
Where software fits, honestly
No software files your VAT return for you in Bangladesh. What software can do is keep the registers continuously and correctly, so that the numbers on the return are a byproduct of the month rather than a week's reconstruction at the start of the next one.
Questions people ask
- What is the current VAT rate in Bangladesh?
- The standard rate is 15%. Reduced rates of 7.5%, 5% and 2.4% apply to specified supplies on a truncated base, and enlisted small businesses pay turnover tax at 4% instead of VAT. The rate belongs to the supply, not to the supplier, so one business can correctly invoice at more than one rate.
- What is the VAT registration threshold in Bangladesh?
- A business whose annual turnover exceeds BDT 30,000,000 must register for VAT. Between BDT 5,000,000 and that figure, a business enlists for turnover tax instead. Voluntary registration below the threshold is allowed and is common, because registered buyers want a Mushak 6.3 they can claim input tax against.
- What is the deadline for Mushak 9.1?
- The Finance Act 2026 made the quarterly return the default from 1 July 2026, due within 15 days of the quarter end. A business that has elected monthly filing instead files by the last day of the following month. A nil return is due on the same date in a period with no sales. Confirm which cadence your own registration sits on with your VAT consultant: NBR is authoritative, this page is not.
- How long must I keep Mushak 6.3 invoices?
- 5 years. That applies to the challans, the purchase and sales registers, and the filed returns, not only to the invoices.
- What is the difference between Mushak 6.1 and 6.2.1?
- Mushak 6.1 is the purchase register alone, kept alongside a separate sales register by a business that produces or processes goods. Mushak 6.2.1 is a single combined purchase and sales account book kept by a trader who buys and resells without processing. The distinction is what your business does to the goods, not how large it is.
- Is NBR-approved VAT software mandatory for my business?
- NBR maintains a list of enlisted VAT software and obligates certain turnover bands to use listed software. What the law requires of every registered business regardless of vendor is compliant output: correctly numbered Mushak 6.3 challans, maintained registers, and a return that reconciles to them. Check the obligation against your own turnover band and, if a vendor claims approval, verify it against NBR's own published list rather than the vendor's marketing.
Start with the form you actually need
- Mushak 6.3: the tax invoiceEvery mandatory field, the numbering rules, and the eight mistakes that cost your buyer their claim.
- Mushak 9.1: the VAT returnWhere each figure comes from, how to reconcile before you file, and what a nil return needs.
- Mushak 6.1: the purchase registerColumn by column, plus the four reasons an input-tax claim gets rejected.
- Mushak 6.2.1: the combined bookThe 6.2 versus 6.2.1 question, resolved by what you do to the goods.
- VDS and TDS in BangladeshTwo different deductions under two different Acts, with rates and worked examples.
- BIN registrationThresholds, documents, the vat.gov.bd flow, and how to check a supplier's BIN.