Expat Payroll in Bangladesh
Expat payroll in Bangladesh is payroll for foreign nationals employed here by an international employer. As a Dhaka-based company, we run it at a fixed price, in the same monthly cycle as your local staff. An expat employee is someone employed outside their home country: here, a foreign national working in Bangladesh, not a Bangladeshi working abroad. Tax is deducted at the right residency status. Records are kept so the employee can remit salary home under the Bangladesh Bank rule, and permit dates are tracked so renewal never stops pay. A payroll accountant and a human resources (HR) administrator do the work inside your own payroll system, with a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) signed first; your owner approves every register.
One exit at each step. No long-term commitment at any of them. We start with each foreign national on your Bangladesh payroll. For each one we read the contract, arrival date, work permit and expiry, days in country this income year, how salary is paid and how much has been remitted. Each person’s residency status, remittance headroom and permit date are written down, and the first calendar is drawn.
You get a written verdict — expat payroll alongside your local run, a residency and remittance clean-up for staff already paid, the full local payroll because nobody runs it yet, or a work permit first because employment has not lawfully begun. If every record is in order, you stop here and keep the review.
30 minutes 01 Scope · free scoping call
1 week 02 Diagnose · review, credited to your first cycle
One cycle 03 Pilot · expat columns live, fixed per employer
Per person 04 Production · each month, price fixed in your contract
Monthly 05 Managed Ops · inside that price, cancel any month
What is included in expat payroll in Bangladesh?
Expat payroll in Bangladesh includes six things beyond paying a foreign national’s salary, and our service covers them all. They are a residency check per person per year, tax at source at that status, the records behind the 80/20 remittance, permit dates in the payroll file, one register for everyone, and year-end documents. Each card is one deliverable.
Tax residency check, per person, per year
Days in Bangladesh are counted against the Income Tax Act tests at the start of each income year and re-checked as travel changes. Each foreign national is then taxed as resident or non-resident from the first payslip, with the count and evidence on file.
Salary tax deducted at the right status
Expat wages count as salary, which section 32 of the Income Tax Act states “means sums of any nature received by an employee from employment”. Tax is deducted at source at the residency status on file, deposited on its date and shown line by line on the register.
Records behind the 80/20 remittance
For each person we record the net-of-tax income, the amount already remitted and the headroom left under the Bangladesh Bank rule. Kept current every cycle, the record gives the employee’s bank what it asks for, and the year-end balance can be certified and sent.
Work permit dates in the payroll file
Permit issue and expiry dates, the issuing authority and the renewal lead time are recorded against each foreign national. You get an alert ahead of expiry, because an expired permit stops lawful employment and therefore pay. The application itself runs on our work permit page.
One register for local and foreign staff
Local employees and foreign nationals sit in one monthly register with one version number. If your staff sit in more than one country, our multi-country payroll services consolidate every country into that same register. The expat lines carry residency status, remittance headroom and permit date as extra columns, so your owner approves one file and nobody runs two payrolls.
Year-end documents per foreign national
Each foreign national gets the salary and tax deduction statements needed for the year-end return and for remitting the retained twenty percent after assessment. They are prepared from the register, dated, and filed in the employee record your auditor can open.
Not included: Moving funds abroad · applying for work permits · advice on law, tax or immigration · a new entity, authority or change in the law, quoted first as a change request.
Which expat payroll rule will catch your Bangladesh entity first: residency, remittance, permit or ratio?
Four rules make expat payroll different from local payroll, and the review says which one your entity is nearest to breaking. They are the residency test that sets the tax basis, the Bangladesh Bank cap on remittance, the work permit without which employment is unlawful, and the investment authority’s staff ratio. Each card names the rule and when it bites.
Residency test
Income Tax Act, section 2(45): resident at 183 days or more in the income year, or at 90 days with 365 in the previous four — when nobody counted the days.
80/20 remittance
Bangladesh Bank rule: up to 80% of net-of-tax income may be remitted during the year, the balance after the year’s assessment — when no record shows the headroom.
Work permit
Issued by the investment authority, export processing zone or economic zone authority, usually for one year — when the expiry date sits in nobody’s calendar.
Staff ratio
The investment authority’s local-to-foreign staff ratio, set separately for commercial offices and industrial projects — when the next expat hire breaks it.
How does the first expat payroll cycle run, from signed review to paid salaries?
The first expat payroll cycle runs in five logged steps, and every item in the log names its person, rule, approver and date. The example below is a subsidiary with fourteen local employees and three foreign nationals who had been paid as locals for eight months. Yellow marks where a person signs.
Step 5 has a legal deadline. Section 123(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act states that the wages of a worker “shall be paid before the expiry of the seventh working day following the last day of the wage period”. Our payroll and HR compliance service documents that date, and the other statutory ones, for the whole entity.
The first cycle · five logged steps
- 1Review signed3 foreign nationals · days counted from arrival · 2 resident, 1 non-resident · permit dates loaded · owner named
- 2Records rebuiltEight months of pay re-based at the right status · remittances to date totalled · headroom computed per person
- 3Register prepared17 lines, one version · expat columns: status, headroom, permit expiry · tax at source shown per line
- 4Owner sign-offYour owner approves the combined register · approval logged with date and version · payment released
- 5Paid and filedSalaries paid inside the wage deadline · tax deposited · remittance records updated · first report in your system
What step 3 prepares · the combined register
| Register line | Residency status | Remittance headroom | Permit expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lines 1–14 · local employees | No expat columns | ||
| Line 15 · foreign national | Resident | Computed | Loaded, alert set |
| Line 16 · foreign national | Resident | Computed | Loaded, alert set |
| Line 17 · foreign national | Non-resident | Computed | Loaded, alert set |
17 lines, one versionTax at source shown per lineStep 4 · your owner approves it
Every month after: days re-counted, residency re-checked, headroom updated, permit alerts sent, the register approved and paid.
Illustrative run. Yellow marks the step where your owner signs; every step is logged with its person, rule, approver and date.
How is expat payroll set up, from review to Managed Ops?
Expat payroll is set up in five steps, each an exit: the free scoping call, the one-week review, a first cycle with each person’s records in place, production for later arrivals, and Managed Ops. Each ends with a file. It goes wrong when foreign nationals are paid like locals and residency, remittance and permit questions surface at year end.
01 30 min · free
Scope A call about your foreign nationals: how many, arrival dates, permits held, how they are paid today and whether anyone has counted days or remittance. If headcount is known, you leave with a review quote.
02 1 week · credited
Diagnose Each person’s contract, permit, arrival date, year-to-date pay, tax and remittance read; residency status set for the year; remittance headroom computed; permit dates and staff ratio checked; gaps listed; the first cycle priced in writing.
03 One cycle · fixed price
Pilot First run with expat columns live: residency status applied, tax deducted at source, remittance record opened per person, permit dates loaded with alerts, combined register approved by your owner, salaries paid inside the wage deadline.
04 Per person · after the first cycle
Production Every later arrival onboarded with residency, remittance and permit records on day one, every departure closed with the year-end documents, the register issued monthly, with the per-person price fixed in the contract.
05 Monthly · cancel any month
Managed Ops The monthly cycle: days re-counted, residency re-checked as travel changes, remittance headroom updated, permit alerts sent, the register approved and paid, and the rules re-read when the tax law or a Bangladesh Bank circular changes.
Who runs your expat payroll, and with what?
On day one you meet three people. A payroll accountant owns residency status, tax at source and the remittance record; an HR administrator owns permit dates and files; a reviewer checks every expat line.
Approval Your named owner approves each register before salaries are paid
References Income Tax Act, Bangladesh Bank circulars, authority guidance
Communication Monthly review call and one shared channel
Delivery Inside your payroll and HR systems; we store nothing on our side
Quality assurance (QA) Second-person review of every expat line; versioned; approver named
Ownership Every register, residency note and remittance record in your name
Do you need expat payroll, a records clean-up, full local payroll, or a work permit first?
Expat payroll buyers arrive in four situations. Foreign nationals on local payroll with no expat records → expat payroll alongside it. Months of pay with no residency or remittance record → a clean-up first. Nobody running Bangladesh payroll → full local payroll with expat lines, as our professional employer organisation (PEO) service. No valid permit → the permit first. Five questions show which.
1. How many foreign nationals do you employ in Bangladesh?
2. Do they all hold a valid work permit?
3. Who runs your local payroll today?
4. Is residency status tracked per person?
5. Is in-year remittance recorded per person?
Which one do you need? Answer five questions.
Expat payroll alongside your local run
Your local payroll works and the foreign nationals in it need the expat columns: residency status set per year, tax at source at that status, a remittance record per person and permit dates with alerts, all inside the one register your owner already approves, priced per foreign national per month.
A first estimate; the diagnostic confirms it.
How the verdict is decided
Any foreign national without a valid permit → work permit first
Nobody runs local payroll → full local payroll with expat lines
Paid for months with no residency or remittance record → clean-up first
Otherwise → expat payroll alongside your local run
Why choose us for expat payroll in Bangladesh?
Expat payroll is judged at year end, when the return asks which Income Tax Act residency basis applied. Section 2(45) states the first test as “minimum 183 (one hundred and eighty-three) days or more in that year”. The Bangladesh Bank rule lets up to 80% of net-of-tax income be remitted in-year and the rest after assessment; we record both.
Without expat-specific payroll
!!!!!
- A foreign national taxed as resident, or non-resident, because nobody counted the days
- A bank refusing a salary remittance because no record shows the year’s headroom
- A permit that expired in a drawer, and a month of pay nobody should have run
- Two payrolls — local and expat — reconciled by hand at year end
With EICRA
First-cycle report · three foreign nationals
Foreign nationals on file3 of 3Months re-based8Gaps closed6Approvals recorded2VerdictFirst cycle acceptedAgreed gate✓ Passed
Illustrative example
- Residency status set per person per year, with the day count on file
- Remittance headroom computed every cycle and certified at year end
- Permit expiry alerts weeks ahead, with the application page one click away
- One register, one approval, local and foreign lines side by side
Is it safe to outsource expat payroll in Bangladesh?
Outsourcing expat payroll is safe when your owner approves every register and access is limited. The risk is not where the accountant sits but who approves payments, who sees passport, permit and salary data, and whether the day count is evidenced. Our Bangladesh-based offshore team works in your systems under NDA and pays nothing unapproved.
Reviewed by Asma Sultana Minu, Local Corporate Counsel. The statutory references on this page — section 2(45) of the Income Tax Act, the Bangladesh Bank 80% remittance rule and section 123(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act — were last checked on 8 October 2026. Informational only, not legal advice.
Which agreements are signed, and when?
NDA — mutual, signed before any contract, passport copy, permit, salary figure or remittance record is shared with anyone.
Data processing — a data processing agreement (DPA) with processor terms under Article 28(3) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where it applies, and Bangladesh’s personal data protection law for the employee data we handle.
International data transfers — standard contractual clauses, or the transfer instrument your own jurisdiction asks for, signed before any employee record moves.
Access — only the payroll and HR modules named in the scope; no bank credentials, no payment authority and no other system of yours.
Certifications — none claimed today, and listed only once held; we are not a bank, an immigration agent, a law firm or a tax adviser.
What controls, intellectual property (IP) and rework terms apply?
Your accounts Each register, payslip, residency note, remittance record and permit copy sits in your own payroll and HR systems from day one; we keep no copy on our side.
Document ownership The contract makes every record yours: export it, give it to your auditor or to the employee, or take it to another provider whenever you choose.
Boundary We run payroll and keep the records; we do not move funds abroad, apply for permits on this page, give legal or tax advice, or decide questions the law leaves to the employer or the employee’s bank — you and your counsel decide.
Approval Nothing is released, whether salary, tax deposit or document, until your named owner approves that cycle’s register; each approval, date and version is recorded.
Rework Free for thirty days when a register line fails its agreed acceptance list; a new entity, a new authority or a change in the law is quoted first as a change request.
What proof do you get before you pay for expat payroll?
Before you pay for expat payroll, you can check three commitments. They are a free scoping call, a one-week review after which you get each foreign national’s residency and remittance record, and a first cycle with no setup fee if it misses its agreed record list. Stop at any step: a written result comes with each.
30 minutesA free scoping call about your foreign nationals: how many, their permits and how they are paid today. If headcount is known, you leave with a review quote.
1 weekThe review sets each person’s residency status, computes remittance headroom, checks permit dates and lists every gap in writing. It is credited to the first cycle.
One cycleTo every foreign national’s residency status, remittance record and permit date on file and the first register approved; no setup fee if it misses its agreed record list.
Case studies: client results with figures will be published here once a client allows its name to be used. On the scoping call, ask for references from your own industry.
What do buyers ask about expat payroll in Bangladesh?
How much does expat payroll in Bangladesh cost?
Expat payroll in Bangladesh is $39 per foreign national per month, never billed per hour. A one-week review ends in each person’s written residency, remittance and permit record and is credited to the first cycle. The first cycle, with the expat columns live, is a fixed $490 per employer; off-cycle runs are $25 each.
What does expat payroll in Bangladesh include?
Expat payroll in Bangladesh includes monthly salary calculation, tax deducted at source at the right residency status, payslips, the records supporting in-year salary remittance under the Bangladesh Bank rule, work permit dates with alerts, and each person’s year-end statements. It is payroll for foreign nationals employed here, not Bangladeshis working abroad; expatriate and local payroll run in one register.
When is a foreign national tax resident in Bangladesh?
Under section 2(45) of the Income Tax Act, a person is resident after 183 days or more in Bangladesh in the income year, or after 90 days or more if they spent 365 days or more here over the previous four years. We count the days from arrival, set the status each year and re-check it as travel changes.
How much salary can a foreign national remit home?
Under the Bangladesh Bank rule, a foreign national may remit up to 80% of net-of-tax income during the year, up from 75% before; the retained balance may be repatriated at the end of each fiscal year once the tax assessment is complete and certified. We keep the running headroom per person for the bank.
Can we switch expat payroll to you, and what won’t you do?
Yes, and we never move funds abroad, apply for permits on this page, or give legal, tax or immigration advice. Switching starts with a handover of each foreign national’s contract, permit, year-to-date pay, tax and remittance history. We reconstruct the day count and headroom, list every gap in writing, and run the first cycle only after you approve it.
How long does it take to start expat payroll in Bangladesh?
From the free 30-minute scoping call to salaries paid is about five to six weeks: one week for the review, then the first cycle inside the following month’s payroll calendar. Later arrivals are onboarded on day one, with no new setup fee.
Start with a free scoping call or the one-week expat payroll review.Prefer to talk first? Call +880 1917 746550 or email support@eicra.com.