Five deputy tax commissioners of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) have been transferred with immediate effect. They have been instructed to hand over their current duties by Monday and join their new postings by Tuesday.
The transfer order, issued on Sunday, comes amid ongoing protests over NBR reforms. Among the transferred officials, two were serving in the Income Tax Intelligence and Investigation Unit, one at the NBR headquarters, and the remaining two in tax regions of Dhaka and Cumilla.
According to the order, Shah Mohammad Fazle Elahi has been transferred from the Intelligence and Investigation Unit to the Mymensingh Tax Region, and his attachment as Deputy Director at the Central Intelligence Cell has been revoked.
Mohammad Shihabul Islam has been transferred from Dhaka Tax Region-16 to Khulna, and Md Abdullah Yusuf from NBR headquarters to Bogura. Imam Touhid Hasan Shakil has been moved from the Intelligence Unit to Cumilla, while Nusrat Jahan Shami has been transferred from Cumilla to Rangpur.
The order states that failure to join the new postings by Tuesday will result in automatic transfer of responsibilities from Monday afternoon.
NBR official claimed the transfers are not routine administrative decisions but part of a “planned strategy” to weaken the pro-reform movement.
Meanwhile, the NBR Reform Unity Council has called for a three-hour pen-down strike and sit-in on Monday from 9 am to 12 pm, demanding the removal of the NBR chairman and repeal of the recent ordinance.
On May 12, the government split the NBR into two separate divisions—Revenue Policy and Revenue Management—through an ordinance. Since then, NBR officials and staff have been protesting under the Unity Council banner, demanding its withdrawal.
Though the Finance Ministry promised to discuss the matter with NBR employees, and many returned to work, demands for the chairman’s resignation have continued, with officials declaring him “unwelcome” at the board. Despite his return to normal duties, tensions between him and NBR staff remain unresolved.