21 hours Ago
Several hundred tax and customs officials staged a demonstration at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) headquarters in Dhaka today. They demanded revisions to a draft ordinance that proposes splitting the NBR into two separate divisions and allowing top appointments from outside the revenue cadre. The protest stemmed from growing frustration among revenue officials over a clause in the proposed "State Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance, 2025".
It allows the government to appoint any eligible civil servant as secretary or senior secretary to the planned Revenue Policy Division and Revenue Management Division. Tax and customs officials began gathering at the NBR headquarters yesterday evening. "What the government is about to do is truly disappointing," said a senior tax official on condition of anonymity.
"We have demanded a revision to the draft ordinance, and its vetting at the law ministry must be halted," the official added. Around 400 officials from 25 tax zones in Dhaka took part in the demonstration. If their demand is not met, they will go on work suspension from the first working day after the beginning of next week, the official warned.
Officials of the tax and customs cadres argue that the clause could place the proposed divisions under general bureaucratic control, depriving revenue officials of leadership roles crucial to tax policy formulation and revenue collection. The draft ordinance was prepared in response to a recommendation from International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is tied to its ongoing $4.7 billion loan programme.
The IMF has advised separating tax policy from administration to enhance revenue generation and improve Bangladesh's tax-to-GDP ratio, which remains among the lowest globally. The ordinance is expected to be made public through a gazette after vetting by the law ministry. Earlier this week, both the BCS Taxation Association and the BCS (Customs and VAT) Association voiced their opposition to the draft, warning it could undermine the government's broader reform agenda.
Several hundred tax and customs officials staged a demonstration at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) headquarters in Dhaka today. They demanded revisions to a draft ordinance that proposes splitting the NBR into two separate divisions and allowing top appointments from outside the revenue cadre. The protest stemmed from growing frustration among revenue officials over a clause in the proposed "State Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance, 2025".
It allows the government to appoint any eligible civil servant as secretary or senior secretary to the planned Revenue Policy Division and Revenue Management Division. Tax and customs officials began gathering at the NBR headquarters yesterday evening. "What the government is about to do is truly disappointing," said a senior tax official on condition of anonymity.
"We have demanded a revision to the draft ordinance, and its vetting at the law ministry must be halted," the official added. Around 400 officials from 25 tax zones in Dhaka took part in the demonstration. If their demand is not met, they will go on work suspension from the first working day after the beginning of next week, the official warned.
Officials of the tax and customs cadres argue that the clause could place the proposed divisions under general bureaucratic control, depriving revenue officials of leadership roles crucial to tax policy formulation and revenue collection. The draft ordinance was prepared in response to a recommendation from International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is tied to its ongoing $4.7 billion loan programme.
The IMF has advised separating tax policy from administration to enhance revenue generation and improve Bangladesh's tax-to-GDP ratio, which remains among the lowest globally. The ordinance is expected to be made public through a gazette after vetting by the law ministry. Earlier this week, both the BCS Taxation Association and the BCS (Customs and VAT) Association voiced their opposition to the draft, warning it could undermine the government's broader reform agenda.
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