Revenue officers across Bangladesh staged a pen-down strike on Wednesday protesting the government’s ordinance to dissolve the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and create two new divisions.
Tax, VAT, and customs officials at all field offices suspended work for three hours, severely disrupting revenue operations nationwide.
The NBR Reform Unity Council, representing both cadres, announced two more pen-down strikes on Thursday and Saturday, with further programs to be declared later. The council exempted international passenger services, export activities, and budget preparations from the protest.
Officials expressed alarm that the revenue ordinance was imposed without consulting frontline tax and customs personnel – the primary stakeholders. They noted the reform committee’s recommendations remain undisclosed despite repeated demands for transparency.
The Monday night ordinance, reportedly pushed by business groups and development partners, replaced NBR with the Revenue Policy Division and Revenue Management Division. Many fear administrative cadre officers will marginalise technical revenue experts under the new structure.
In a related development, the press release said, several key members of the BCS Customs and VAT Association — including the vice president, secretary general, treasurer, and joint secretary general — have resigned from the association’s executive committee in protest over institutional indifference to service-related issues and other concerns.
Similarly, office bearers of the BCS (Taxation) Association have also started resigning from their respective posts in phases, it claimed.