Bangladesh VAT on Stripe Digital Services in QuickBooks

A software company in Austin sells a $15 monthly plan. A student in Dhaka subscribes. To Stripe, that single sale is enough: its Bangladesh page says a foreign seller of digital services has to register for VAT after one consumer sale in 12 months. Bangladesh's own texts take you further, and most of what they add is paperwork Stripe can't do for you. The rate is 15 percent. A non-resident must appoint a local VAT agent, who is jointly liable for your tax. And under the changes the National Board of Revenue (NBR) announced for the 2026-27 budget, the return is now filed once a quarter, with payments still due every month.

Stripe's Bangladesh entry gives the short version: remote sellers of digital products "must register for VAT purposes if there is at least one transaction of digital goods and services provided to private individuals in Bangladesh within a period of 12 months." It lists the registration threshold as "1 transaction in 12 months" and the monitored transactions as "B2C sales of digital products." Stripe has supported Bangladesh since 2 May 2025, according to its supported countries table.

This guide works from NBR's own documents: the English translation of the VAT and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012 that NBR publishes, the authorized English text of the VAT and Supplementary Duty Rules, 2016 (consolidated to November 2025), NBR's English VAT FAQ, and two Bengali documents from June 2026: SRO No. 125 amending the Rules and NBR's VAT instruction for the 2026-27 budget. We cross-checked them against PwC's Bangladesh tax summary. Quotes from the Bengali texts are our translations. Where NBR's texts are silent or disagree with each other, we say so. It is bookkeeping guidance, not tax advice.

Acodei brings Stripe Tax amounts into QuickBooks, so the Bangladeshi VAT you collect lands in a liability account you can check before each payment. Start a free trial.

Who has to register for VAT in Bangladesh on digital sales

The Act's English translation defines "electronic service" broadly. It covers services "provided or delivered on or through a telecommunications network, a local or global information network, or similar means," and its list starts with websites, web hosting and "software and the updating thereof delivered remotely." A SaaS plan, an online course or an app subscription fits.

Section 17 decides when a non-resident's supply counts as made in Bangladesh. One of its cases is a supply to a person who isn't VAT registered where "the services are electronic services delivered to a person located in Bangladesh at the time of supply." That is the consumer sale Stripe monitors. NBR flags the English Act as an unofficial translation, and the copy it publishes dates from 2013, so treat its wording as a guide to the Bengali law rather than the law itself.

Stripe draws the same line from its side. "In Bangladesh, Stripe only supports collecting VAT for digital services," and to collect it "you must be a remote seller without a physical presence in the country." Stripe calculates nothing for products without a digital product tax code, so check the codes on your products before you add the registration.

Two edges are worth knowing:

• An office in Bangladesh changes the regime. Section 17 treats any supply by a non-resident "carrying on an economic activity from or through a fixed place in Bangladesh" as made in Bangladesh, whoever the customer is. Stripe lists businesses located in Bangladesh as not supported, so that seller needs a different setup.
• Business customers are outside Stripe's count. Stripe says sales to Bangladeshi businesses "don't trigger any tax registration obligations because non-resident businesses aren't required to collect tax on these sales." The business section below covers how those customers account for the VAT.

One consumer sale in 12 months: where that number comes from

Stripe's one-transaction threshold is the clearest statement of the trigger anywhere, and it isn't in NBR's texts. Here is what the primary sources do and don't say:

Question	What the source says
Is there a separate threshold for foreign digital sellers?	Stripe: one B2C transaction in 12 months. NBR's texts: none found.
What is the general registration threshold?	NBR's English FAQ: "Taka 8 million." That figure predates later amendments, and PwC's July 2026 summary gives BDT 5 million.
Must a non-resident appoint an agent?	Act section 19 and Rules rule 17: yes.
How long after the obligation arises?	Rules rule 4(1), restated by SRO 125 in June 2026: 15 days.

The general threshold is a turnover test for businesses in Bangladesh, and nothing in the texts we read says it shields a non-resident. PwC's Bangladesh summary, our cross-check, describes the obligation without any threshold: a non-resident supplier of electronic services to unregistered customers "is liable to obtain VAT registration by appointing a VAT agent." Read together, Stripe's one-sale trigger is the safe working assumption, and Stripe's threshold monitoring will flag Bangladesh once that sale happens.

The 15-day clock matters more than it looks. If the first Bangladeshi consumer sale is the trigger, the registration application is due 15 days later, and the agent who files it needs to be appointed before then.

The mandatory VAT agent for non-residents

Section 19 of the Act's translation is direct: "A non-resident, who does not carry on an economic activity from a fixed place in Bangladesh, shall appoint a VAT Agent." The agent is "jointly and severally liable for the payment of all dues including taxes, fines, penalties, and interests," and the registration is made "in the name of the principal." Rule 17(1) of the Rules repeats it: "Any non-resident person shall nominate VAT Agent for performing any work with the VAT authorities on his behalf under the Act."

Rule 16(2) limits who can act. The list includes:

• a licensed VAT consultant, or a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) or of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB);
• a lawyer enrolled with the Bangladesh Bar Council, or a chartered secretary;
• a retired VAT official not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner, or a business representative nominated by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI);
• a reputed consultancy, chartered accountancy or legal firm registered in Bangladesh that has the non-resident's consent.

The agent applies online for a VAT Agent Certificate (form VAT-3.2), valid for three years. Rule 16(4) also sets a 60-day window after the certificate for sending NBR proof that the non-resident has appointed them, or the certificate is treated as cancelled.

In practice, the agent carries the whole relationship. NBR's FAQ lists the agent's duties as registration, return filing, tax payment and audits. Rule 47(2) says a non-resident's return is signed "by his agent." Our tax representative entry covers how joint liability works for local representatives in other countries.

Registration itself is fast. A non-resident applies on form Mushak-2.2 through the eVAT system. SRO 125 (7 June 2026) rewrote rule 4 so that a valid online application gets a registration certificate with a Business Identification Number (BIN) by email at once, and the registration takes effect from the moment the certificate is issued.

The Bangladesh VAT rate on digital services is 15 percent

Section 15 of the Act sets the rate on taxable supplies and imports at 15 percent, and NBR's FAQ says it in one line: "The standard rate of VAT is 15%." The 2026-27 budget's rewrite of section 20 restates 15 percent for imported services. PwC's summary agrees: "The standard VAT rate in Bangladesh is 15%."

A $15 subscription priced exclusive of tax carries $2.25 of VAT. Priced inclusive, $15 contains $1.96 ($15 × 15 / 115).

When you add the registration in Stripe, check that the rate Stripe shows for Bangladesh is 15 percent before you start collecting.

Filing VAT in Bangladesh: a quarterly return with monthly payments

This is where NBR's documents disagree with each other, and the newest one wins.

NBR's English FAQ, which still describes the old system, says "Return has to be furnished within the 15th day of the following month of the Tax Period," and the tax period for VAT is one calendar month. That was the system for years.

NBR's VAT instruction for the 2026-27 budget (dated 11 June 2026) replaces section 64 of the Act. The tax period stays one month. The return doesn't:

1. The return is quarterly. Every registered person files "within 15 days after the end of every three tax periods" (our translation). If the 15th is a government holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day.
2. Nil filers get 20 days. The same subsection gives government bodies, banks, insurers and anyone filing a nil return 20 days. So a quarter with no Bangladeshi sales still needs a nil return.
3. Monthly filing is optional. A registered person may choose to file for each tax period, on any day of the following period.
4. Payments stay monthly. Even with a quarterly return, one third of the total tax for the previous three tax periods is paid by treasury challan within 15 days after each tax period ends. In the third month you work out the actual tax for the quarter, pay any balance, and show it in the return. This payment schedule is our reading of the Bengali instruction, and PwC's summary doesn't describe it, so confirm the amounts with your agent.

PwC's July 2026 summary describes the same change: a quarterly Mushak 9.1 return "within the 15 days following the quarter-end," or an option to file monthly "by the last day of next month." SRO 125 keeps form Mushak-9.1 for registered service providers, adds a new Mushak-9.1.1 for traders, and the new section 64 lets NBR make electronic filing compulsory.

What the texts don't say is how the one-third rule works in your first quarter, when there is no previous quarter to divide. Ask your agent before the first month ends.

Currency: taka, and a conversion rule nobody wrote down

Returns and payments are in taka. Rule 25 says tax is paid "to the government treasury in specific code of accounts," online or by challan. PwC says non-resident electronic service providers are "neither required to establish their presence nor required to open a bank account in Bangladesh," but none of the NBR texts we read describe a foreign-currency payment route. With the agent jointly liable, agree how funds reach them well before the first due date.

We found no rule in NBR's English texts or the 2026 documents on which exchange rate converts a dollar price into taka. Stripe converts on its own terms. Its tax reports documentation says that where the pricing currency differs from the filing currency, "Stripe Tax converts amounts using available exchange rates at the time of the transaction to calculate the filing currency." The itemized export carries a filing_exchange_rate and filing_tax_amount on each line. Our entry on the Stripe Tax filing currency explains why those figures and your books can disagree. Ask your agent which rate NBR expects, and keep Stripe's figure as the starting point.

Business customers: deduction at source, and what bd_bin does in Stripe

Bangladesh taxes services that businesses buy from abroad at the buyer's end. NBR's FAQ puts it simply: "Reverse charge is applicable to service recipient at import level." Its example is a company importing software online, which pays the VAT and offsets it against its output tax. Our reverse charge entry covers the general mechanism.

The 2026-27 rewrite of section 20 adds the collection step, which is closer to withholding than a pure reverse charge:

• The buyer is liable. VAT on imported services is the recipient's responsibility.
• The bank collects it. The bank, financial institution or authorized foreign-exchange dealer that sends the payment deducts the VAT at source and pays the remaining amount to the supplier.
• The bank deposits it. It pays the VAT into the treasury by challan on the importer's behalf and gives the importer a copy, which counts as the importer's tax invoice.
• A registered buyer recovers it as input tax under the usual credit rules.

That has a practical edge for invoices. If a Dhaka company pays your $1,000 invoice by bank wire, the text says the bank deducts the VAT and remits the rest. Decide before you invoice whether your price allows for that. The texts don't address card payments processed by a foreign acquirer, which is how most Stripe charges arrive.

On Stripe's side, the customer tax ID table lists bd_bin (Bangladesh Business Identification Number) with "Impact in Tax Calculation" marked Yes, and its footnote says "Stripe Tax won't apply tax if this tax ID is provided." Stripe "only checks the format" of this ID type and doesn't validate it against a government database. Its example format is 123456789-0123, while NBR's registration guide describes a nine-digit BIN, so test what your checkout accepts before you rely on it.

The burden sits with the ID. A consumer who types a well-formed BIN gets a VAT-free sale, and the VAT on it is still yours. Collect customer tax IDs at checkout only if you sell to Bangladeshi businesses, and review the zero-VAT Bangladeshi lines each quarter. Our guide to Stripe customer tax IDs in QuickBooks covers how those IDs carry through.

Setting up the registration in Stripe

Once the BIN certificate arrives, add the registration in Stripe. The Dashboard route is the Locations tab of the Tax page, then Add registration and I've already registered. Through the Tax Registrations API, Stripe's published API definition accepts only one type for Bangladesh, so the call takes country=BD, country_options[bd][type]=standard and an active_from timestamp. Our Stripe Tax registration entry covers what active_from and expires_at change.

Set active_from to the moment the certificate was issued, not the day you applied. Under rule 4 as rewritten by SRO 125, that is when the registration takes effect. Stripe starts calculating Bangladeshi VAT once the registration is active, and stops only when the registration expires.

Stripe records tax on its own timetable: "We consider transactions effective on the date they finalize and we don't recalculate taxes afterwards." An annual plan finalized on 30 December lands in Stripe's October to December figures, even if it is paid in January. NBR's English texts don't settle the time of supply for that case, so ask your agent if your invoices finalize well before payment.

A worked example: one quarter of Bangladeshi sales in taka

A US software company has a Bangladesh registration in Stripe, a BIN, and a VAT agent in Dhaka. Its plans are priced in dollars, exclusive of tax. From October to December:

• 400 consumers pay the $15 monthly plan for all three months: $18,000 of sales and $2,700 of VAT.
• 10 consumers buy the $150 annual plan in November: $1,500 of sales and $225 of VAT.
• One consumer gets a full refund through a credit note on a monthly invoice: −$15 and −$2.25.
• Six Bangladeshi companies with a bd_bin on file buy the monthly plan: $270 over the quarter and no VAT, because the tax ID switched it off.

Stripe's figure for the quarter is $2,922.75 of VAT ($2,700 + $225 − $2.25). Filter the itemized export on country_code BD and sum filing_tax_amount. At an illustrative filing_exchange_rate of 122 taka to the dollar, that is BDT 356,575.50.

Now the payment schedule. Say July to September produced BDT 330,000 of VAT:

Due by	What	Amount
15 November	One third of the July to September total, for October	BDT 110,000
15 December	One third again, for November	BDT 110,000
15 January	The quarterly return on Mushak-9.1, with the balance	BDT 136,575.50

Three checks before your agent files:

1. The rate. Confirm with your agent which exchange rate NBR expects and rebuild the taka figure if it isn't Stripe's.
2. The six business sales. Confirm each bd_bin belongs to a business. Any that don't add VAT to the return.
3. The holidays. If the 15th is a government holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day.

What reaches QuickBooks, and what you book yourself

Acodei offers two main approaches for syncing Stripe Tax amounts into QuickBooks. With the tax product approach, all Stripe Tax amounts go onto a single line, a non-inventory product mapped to a liability account, and you use Stripe's tax reports to file and pay from that account. It needs Stripe Tax on Stripe Invoicing or Stripe Checkout, and it is the approach for US QuickBooks companies, because the QuickBooks Sales Tax Center doesn't let third parties create tax rates. Companies outside the US can use it too. With QuickBooks tax rate mapping, which is for QuickBooks companies outside the US, you map each Stripe tax rate ID (txr_...) to a QuickBooks tax code. Both live in the Stripe Tax section of the Account Mapping module in Acodei, behind the toggle "Do you need to track Stripe Tax?", next to the setting for inclusive or exclusive tax.

For the quarter in the example:

• Sales. $2,922.75 of Bangladeshi VAT in the tax liability account, on the sales records Acodei creates from Stripe.
• The refund. It went through a credit note, so Acodei sees the line-level tax breakdown. A refund issued against the payment alone, without a credit note, doesn't carry that breakdown, and the tax on it may need a manual adjustment in QuickBooks.
• The payments to NBR. These are yours to record, three times a quarter. Debit the tax liability for the dollar value of each payment and credit the bank for what it cost. Book the agent's fee as an expense, not against the liability.
• The difference. The liability sits in dollars at Stripe's rates, and the payments cost what the taka did on the day. Post the gap to exchange gain or loss.

Because the monthly payments are estimates, the Bangladeshi slice of the liability account won't net to zero until the quarter's return is paid. Check it after the January payment, not in November. Our guide to reconciling the Stripe Tax report in QuickBooks covers splitting one liability account across countries.

If you price Bangladeshi customers in taka instead of dollars, Stripe treats BDT as a two-decimal currency, so it isn't caught by Acodei's limit on zero-decimal currencies. Acodei's Multicurrency Support has to be switched on by the Acodei team, QuickBooks multicurrency must be on, and a customer whose QuickBooks record is in another currency gets a second record named like "Acme - BDT." That second record is how QuickBooks requires currencies to work. Check that taka is available in your QuickBooks currency list before you start.

Common mistakes with Bangladesh VAT on Stripe sales

• Waiting for a turnover threshold. NBR's FAQ quotes one, but nothing in the texts applies it to a foreign digital seller. Stripe says one consumer sale.
• Registering without an agent. Section 19 and rule 17 require one, and the agent signs your returns.
• Filing monthly by the 15th from habit. Since the 2026-27 budget changes, the return is quarterly. The payments are still monthly.
• Skipping the quiet quarter. Nil returns exist and have their own 20-day deadline.
• Leaving the BIN field open to consumers. A well-formed bd_bin stops Stripe charging VAT, and Stripe checks only the format.
• Activating Stripe from the application date. The registration takes effect when the certificate is issued.
• Expecting the liability to clear every month. It clears when the quarterly return is paid.

Our guide to the countries that register you from the first sale covers the rest of that group, from India to Kazakhstan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do foreign SaaS companies have to register for VAT in Bangladesh?

Stripe says yes after one sale of digital services to a private individual in Bangladesh within 12 months. NBR's texts treat electronic services delivered to an unregistered person in Bangladesh as supplied there and require a non-resident to appoint a VAT agent. They don't state a separate threshold for foreign digital sellers, so Stripe's one-sale trigger is the safe working assumption.

What is the VAT rate on digital services in Bangladesh?

15 percent, the standard rate in section 15 of the VAT and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012, confirmed in NBR's VAT FAQ and restated for imported services in the 2026-27 budget changes. A $15 subscription priced exclusive of tax carries $2.25 of VAT. Check that Stripe shows 15 percent when you add the Bangladesh registration.

Does a non-resident need a VAT agent in Bangladesh?

Yes. Section 19 of the Act says a non-resident without a fixed place of business in Bangladesh "shall appoint a VAT Agent," and rule 17 of the VAT Rules repeats it. The agent must hold an NBR VAT Agent Certificate, is jointly and severally liable for your VAT, and signs your returns.

How often do you file a VAT return in Bangladesh?

Quarterly, under the section 64 that NBR's 2026-27 budget instruction substituted: within 15 days after every three monthly tax periods, or 20 days for a nil return. Monthly filing is optional. Payments stay monthly, with one third of the previous quarter's tax due within 15 days of each month's end. NBR's English FAQ still describes monthly returns.

Does Stripe charge VAT to Bangladeshi business customers?

No, if the customer has a Bangladeshi BIN (bd_bin) on file. Stripe's tax ID table says Stripe Tax won't apply tax when it is provided, and Stripe checks only the format. The Bangladeshi buyer accounts for the VAT, and under the 2026 changes the bank that remits a payment for imported services deducts it at source.

The short version

Fifteen percent from the first consumer sale, through a mandatory local VAT agent who is jointly liable and signs your returns. Register on Mushak-2.2 within 15 days, and turn on Stripe from the moment the BIN certificate is issued. File quarterly on Mushak-9.1 within 15 days of the quarter's end, pay a third of the previous quarter's tax each month, and file nil returns for quiet quarters. Business customers are handled at their end, and a bd_bin switches Stripe's VAT off. In QuickBooks, the Bangladeshi slice of the tax liability account should be back at zero after each quarterly return is paid.

Acodei syncs Stripe Tax into QuickBooks, so each Bangladeshi quarter starts from the liability account instead of a spreadsheet. Start a free trial.