The National Board of Revenue has reintroduced the use of passports for registration and re-registration of electronic taxpayers’ identification number after more than one year of the suspension of the facility to assist expatriate Bangladeshis who do not have national identification cards in obtaining e-TINs.

Earlier in October 2019, the revenue board suspended issuance of e-TINs against passports to prevent the misuse of the system.

Income tax wing of the revenue board on December 10 issued a directive to its field-level offices in this connection.

Expatriate Bangladeshis who do not have NID cards will now be able to get e-TINs and renew their existing manual TINs by using their passports.

There were allegations that many individuals obtained double e-TINs, one by using NID and another by using passport.

In the directive signed by its first secretary (tax information management and evaluation) Md Abul Bashar Akan, the NBR said that a huge number of Bangladeshi expatriates who did not have NID cards were being deprived of getting e-TINs.

The expatriates urged the NBR to reintroduce the facility of issuance of e-TINs against passports, it said.

Officials said that the NBR would modify its e-TIN system to prevent getting more than one e-TINs by a person.

NID cards will remain the first priority for the issuance of e-TINs and passports will be accepted only if an applicant does not have NID card, they said.