Big discount on savings certificates: No return required for purchases up to 10 lakh taka

The government has given a big discount in filing income tax returns for savings certificates and term deposits (FDR) investments. From now on, if you buy savings certificates or FDRs up to 10 lakh taka, you will no longer need to file an income tax return. So far, this limit was up to 5 lakh taka.

A gazette in this regard was recently published by the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Department of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. It states, “Notwithstanding anything contained in other provisions of this Act, the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement shall prevail.” Then a notification was issued by the National Savings Directorate under the Internal Resources Department (IRD) of the Ministry of Finance.

Lubaba Sadia, Assistant Director of the National Savings Department, said, “Earlier, income tax returns were not required for purchasing savings certificates up to Tk 5 lakh, but now it has been increased to Tk 10 lakh. If the amount exceeds this, a return must be filed.”

In addition, it is now mandatory to submit income tax returns for loans exceeding Tk 20 lakh. Through this, the government is trying to bring large-amount borrowers under the income tax policy.

Meanwhile, the IRD issued a notification reducing the profit rate of five savings schemes operated under the National Savings Department from July 1. The new profit rate has been set at a maximum of 11.82 percent to 11.98 percent depending on the scheme. This rate has come into effect from July 1, 2025.

Earlier, the maximum profit rate on January 1 of this year was from 12.25 percent to 12.55 percent. The five schemes that have reduced the profit rate are: Family Savings Certificate, Five-Year Bangladesh Savings Certificate, Three-Month Profit-Based Savings Certificate, Pensioner Savings Certificate and Post Office Savings Bank Term Account.

The two stages have been maintained as before for investors. The first stage will be for those whose investments are below 7 lakh 50 thousand taka. The second stage will be for those who invest more than 7 lakh 50 thousand taka.

On the other hand, the profit rate of Wage Earner Development Bond, US Dollar Premium Bond, US Dollar Investment Bond and Post Office Savings Bank General Account under the National Savings Scheme has been kept unchanged.