BIN and VAT registration in Chattogram

The Business Identification Number is your registration under the VAT and SD Act 2012. Businesses with annual turnover above Tk 50 lakh need it — turnover tax enlistment up to Tk 3 crore, VAT registration above that. Importers and exporters need a BIN whatever their turnover, and so do suppliers working against tenders, contracts or work orders, and businesses in categories that must register regardless of size.

In practice, Chattogram businesses usually come to us for a BIN at a specific moment: a first import through the port, an IRC application, a tender from a government office or a large buyer, a bank account for a new company, or a buyer in CEPZ who will not pay without one. Knowing which of these is driving you tells us what else will be needed next — often the IRC, a trade licence change or a VDS set-up.

Applications are made on the VAT online system and processed by the Customs, Excise & VAT Commissionerate, Chattogram, through the division and circle that covers your business address. That is why the address on the application has to match the trade licence and the premises papers exactly — a shop in Reazuddin Bazar registered under a home address in Halishahar lands in the wrong circle and creates problems at the first audit.

Before we submit, we check the details that most often hold an application back: the owner’s or directors’ names spelled exactly as on the National ID; a mobile number and email for the VAT online login that you, not an agent, control; a bank account in the business name; and business activities that describe what you actually sell or supply. In the older market buildings of Khatunganj and Chaktai the premises are often rented through a relative or a previous tenant, so we also make sure the rent agreement is in the name of the business that is registering.

We confirm the final list for your business type before applying:

Once the documents are in order, the VAT online system usually issues the certificate within a few working days. Most delays come from a mismatch between the trade licence, the premises papers and the application, so we check those before submitting.

The obligation starts the day the BIN is issued. A VAT-registered business files Mushak 9.1 by the 15th of every following month and a turnover tax business files quarterly — including periods with no sales. Getting the BIN and then filing nothing is the mistake we see most in Chattogram: the unfiled returns pile up on the VAT online system and surface later as penalties, a demand from the VAT office or a problem at the next import. Trading above the thresholds without the registration you need carries its own penalties under the VAT and SD Act 2012, and blocks imports, tenders and bank work that ask for a BIN.

There is no government fee for BIN registration. Our fee covers choosing the right registration, preparing the application and following it up, and is fixed before we start. If you want us to take over the monthly returns from the first month, we quote that as a separate monthly fee.