Online Report
National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan has said the agency’s recent notice on zero-tax returns is intended to raise taxpayer awareness, not to intimidate anyone.
“We do not want to scare taxpayers in any way. We simply want to make them aware,” he told a press conference on Tuesday at the Ministry of Finance’s multipurpose hall in Dhaka.
Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, senior officials, and special assistants were also present.
Responding to questions about whether warnings of a five-year sentence for false zero-tax returns were meant to pressure taxpayers, the NBR chief said no new laws had been enacted.
“We noticed that, in shops and on social media, people are teaching others how to file zero returns. This is dangerous. If your file is audited later, you won’t be able to answer because all the information is false,” he said.
Abdur Rahman Khan stressed that providing false information is a punishable offence. “We are working to make online filing more user-friendly.
Around 10,000 to 20,000 people are now filing online every day. This is part of an awareness campaign, not a fear campaign,” he added.
Addressing questions about alleged mass dismissals of NBR officials following internal protests, the chairman rejected the claim. “There has been no mass dismissal, nor is there any plan to do so. Action has only been taken against a few individuals who grossly violated discipline, such as tearing up colleagues’ orders in front of the media. The revenue department is our resource, and we aim to motivate officers to enhance collections, not remove them,” he said