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13-digit e-Bin mandatory for businesses


Published : 09 May 2021 09:55 PM | Updated : 10 May 2021 02:05 AM

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has asked businesses to collect 13-digit business identification numbers (BIN) from the respective offices within the next 15 days to run their trade, import and export.

It said business establishments have been running their businesses, including trade, import and export with invalid BIN that has increased the risk of VAT dodging and other irregularities.

The NBR’s VAT wing on May 6 issued a letter to all its field-level VAT offices regarding the matter.

It asked the offices to furnish a report within 15 days about what steps, including issuance of new BINs, they took against businesses which were using the old BINs to run their businesses.

The NBR said many businesses had even been filing monthly VAT returns using the invalid BINs by taking advantage of the option of manual VAT returns submission.

The issue has come to the notice of the NBR. Field-level VAT offices of NBR have been asked to take steps against the practice and ensure the use of valid BINs by traders , NBR sources said.

On November 30, 2019, the NBR made the old BINs comprising  nine digits and 11 digits invalid and made the use of the 13-digit online BINs, also known as e-BINs, mandatory for all types of business activities.

According to the Value-Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act-2012, the BIN or VAT registration number must contain 13 digits.

Conducting business activities, including import and export, using the old BINs is illegal, said the NBR letter signed by NBR second secretary (VAT monitoring, statistics and coordination) MM Kabirul Islam.

A 13-digit e-BIN is mandatory for opening letters of credit for conducting import and export, participating in tenders, getting bank loans and carrying out regular business activities where e-BINs are required.

So far, around 2.53 lakh traders have obtained e-BINs under the VAT online system.