Officers and employees of Customs, VAT, and Income Tax departments have formed a platform titled ‘NBR Unity Council’ to press their demands for reforms within the National Board of Revenue, amid growing opposition to a proposed law that would restructure the NBR.
The decision came following a marathon meeting at the NBR Conference Room on Monday, where officials agreed to hold a sit-in in front of the NBR headquarters at around 2:45pm on Tuesday.
For the past several weeks, NBR officials have been protesting a draft proposal that seeks to divide the NBR into two separate entities — Revenue Policy Division and Revenue Management Division — and allows for the appointment of administrative cadre officers to key positions, a move they strongly oppose, reports UNB.
According to the draft law, which the interim government recently approved, the government will be able to appoint any suitably qualified government officer to the post of secretary or senior secretary of the new revenue policy and management divisions.
Alongside that, the Customs, Excise and Value Added Tax Appellate Tribunal and the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal will be attached with departments of this Revenue Policy Division under the Ministry of Finance.
As per the draft, various posts in the Revenue Policy Division will be filled by officers with experience in income tax, value added tax, customs, economics, business administration, research and statistics, administration, audit and accounting, and legal work.
It added that it is necessary to separate the government’s revenue policy formulation activities and revenue collection management activities.
The proposed law mentioned it is appropriate and necessary to establish a Revenue Policy Division and a Revenue Management Division by restructuring the existing structure to increase transparency, accountability, and dynamism of revenue collection activities.
“Various posts in the administrative division of the Revenue Management Division will be filled from the Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration) cadre and employees working in the Revenue Management Department,” the proposed law stated.