The rush to obtain taxpayer identification numbers intensified after the National Board of Revenue mandated that public and private sector employees, who earn Tk 16,000 or more a month, will have to have TINs to receive their salaries.

Some 1.31 lakh individuals have signed up for electronically generated TINs since July 1, to comply with the tax authority's rule.

“It appears that employers have started asking employees to get TINs. The amount of salaries paid to employees will be treated as income, if employers fail to show TINs,” said a senior official of NBR, asking not to be named.

Public sector employees who draw salaries and allowances at the 10th grade will have to have TINs, the NBR said in a notification early this month.

The tax administrator has also made the rule mandatory for teachers who draw Tk 16,000 or more a month with Monthly Payment Order, and persons working at management, administrative and supervisory positions at companies and firms.

The step taken by NBR is expected to prevent companies from claiming higher expenses by showing 'ghost employees' on their payroll, said taxmen and analysts.

The move will also accelerate the collection of payroll taxes, which is only 2 percent of total income tax collected in a year, they said.

The NBR official said the number of TINs held by individuals was 18.89 lakh at the end of June. Of them, 10.03 lakh persons re-registered for e-TINs and 8.86 lakh were fresh taxpayers.

The number of TINs of new taxpayers increased to 10.16 lakh in the last two months, according to the official.

“We expect that six lakh individuals will register for TINs following the changes in the income tax law for the current fiscal year,” he added.

Taxmen said they do not get the proper amount of taxes from salaries and as a result, its contribution to total income tax collection remains low.

Taxmen collected Tk 979 crore as withholding tax from salaried persons in fiscal 2014-15, a 29 percent hike from the amount in the previous year, according to NBR.

To curb such tax evasion, the NBR earlier tagged a condition that salaries should be paid through the banking channel.

Taxmen said mandating the payment of salaries in excess of Tk 16,000 based on TIN will be instrumental in improving compliance.

But employees will not need to submit returns, if their incomes stay below the tax-free threshold of Tk 2.5 lakh a year.