Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices towards E-Tax Return Filing in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study

Authors

  • Anas Al Masud Bangladesh University of Professionals image/svg+xml Author
  • Nahin Anzoom Sayed Bangladesh University of Professionals image/svg+xml Author
  • Nazia Hassan Tabassum Bangladesh University of Professionals image/svg+xml Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.65496/jssme.2026.80

Keywords:

E-Tax Return, Knowledge-Attitude-Practices (KAP), Bangladesh

Abstract

E-tax return refers to the filing of income tax returns electronically through any online platform, often considered as quicker, efficient, and transparent alternative to paper-based manual filing. Drawing on this digitalization agenda of tax administration, this study uses a qualitative method of research and aims to explore the knowledge, attitude, and practice of taxpayers regarding the e-filing of tax returns in Bangladesh. Data for this study has been collected through 45 in-depth interviews with individual taxpayers and 5 key informant interviews with tax officials to explore their views on e-tax return practices in Bangladesh. The respondents of this study were purposively selected to capture socio-demographic diversity of the country. Later, the collected data were analyzed thematically following the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice framework. The result shows that the knowledge level among the taxpayers regarding e-tax systems is incomplete and significantly lacks in procedural aspects. The attitude toward e-filing is also found as mixed and significantly depends on their respective perceptions regarding transparency and accountability. In practice, the technical complexities, digital skill gaps, and unfavorable system interface collectively results in creating a gap for the intermediaries to intervene, who often discourage independent filing at large, eliminating the true purpose of digital taxation itself indeed. Hereafter, this study concludes that the low e-filing of tax returns in Bangladesh is to several other barriers rather than technical barriers alone. Therefore, it is imperative that capacity-building and trust-based reforms should be introduced for enhancing user-centric service delivery mechanisms indeed.

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Author Biography

  • Anas Al Masud, Bangladesh University of Professionals

    Anas Al Masud is a teaching professional at Bangladesh University of Professionals, a public educational institute that aims at crafting and fostering potential graduates as well as qualified persona to turn out to be the future leaders. He graduated from Bangladesh University of Professional with honors and master’s degree in Public Administration. His primary area of interest lies in e-governance, public participation and digital transformation although his alacrity for multidisciplinary expertise knows no bounds. Anas is a powerful force in the workplace and uses his optimism and enthusiasm to encourage others to work hard and succeed. In his leisure time, Anas likes to cycle, read non-fictional books, and watch movies.

     

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Published

2026-05-15

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2026)

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2026 Anas, Nahin Anzoom Sayed, Nazia Hassan Tabassum (Author)

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How to Cite

Masud, A. A., Sayed, N. A., & Tabassum, N. H. (2026). Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices towards E-Tax Return Filing in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Social Science and Multidisciplinary Enquiry, 2(1), 15-24. https://doi.org/10.65496/jssme.2026.80

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