The National Board of Revenue (NBR) Reform Unity Council turned down the finance ministry’s proposal to hold a dialogue scheduled for today.
FE
At a press conference held at the NBR headquarters on Wednesday, the Council leaders said that its representatives were not included in the list of invitees and therefore they would not participate. “We are always in favour of a dialogue. In fact, we participated in a meeting on 20 May with the adviser and other stakeholders. However, despite having 13 representatives, our side was only given 10 minutes to speak in a 55-minute meeting,” the Council said.
“Even though the discussion was far from being productive, the adviser publicly claimed that it had been fruitful. That experience does not encourage us to attend another meeting where our presence is not formally requested.”
Reaffirming its one-point demand, the Council called for immediate removal of current NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan, whom it described as an executor of the previous regime’s agenda. The Council has announced that if the chairman is not removed by Friday, it will launch a nationwide complete shutdown of all tax, customs and VAT offices starting on Saturday. Only international passenger services will remain outside the purview of the shutdown.
All tax, customs, and VAT officials in Dhaka will observe a pen-down strike and sit-in today at the NBR complex from noon to 5:00 pm, while similar protests will be held in regional offices across the country. Protesters will also demonstrate symbolically against the NBR chairman and his close associates.
The Council believes that its demand for the chairman’s removal is justified not only by recent policy inconsistencies but also by a pattern of obstruction. It alleged that the NBR administration denied them venue access for holding a seminar on revenue reform, issued punitive transfer orders against those participating in protests, and excluded their representatives from the newly formed coordination committee tasked with implementing the ordinance to restructure the NBR.
The Council warned that any retaliatory action-such as transfers, forced retirements, or disciplinary measures-against those taking part in the movement will be resisted by thousands of officials from across the tax, customs, and VAT departments. “We must remain guided by the spirit of meaningful reform as shown by past movements,” the Council said.
They also said that no vested interests are behind their movement, as it is entirely spontaneous and driven by the demand for sustainable reform. “No vested group is behind it, and anyone suggesting otherwise is ignoring the reality on the ground,” said the Council. They have called on Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed to disclose the names of the powerful business group who are behind the ongoing protest by tax, customs and VAT officials.
Earlier on the day, speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committees on Economic Affairs and Government Purchase, Finance Adviser Dr Ahmed said some businessmen benefitted during the rule of the previous Awami League government, while honest businesses were deprived. He alleged that these business interests are now uncomfortable with reforms that promote accountability and transparency.
In an interview with a Bangla daily, Dr Ahmed went further, saying that unscrupulous businessmen who previously enjoyed undue advantages are now trying to mislead NBR officials in fear of losing their privileges under the new ordinance.
The Council leaders reacted sharply to the finance adviser’s statement and also challenged him to provide proof in support of his claim. Open an investigation and inform the nation of these vested business interests, they said.
The Council further slammed the government for its ‘reversal of policy’.
On 25 May, a press release from the finance ministry stated that the government would not dissolve the NBR, but elevate it as an independent and specialised agency under the finance ministry. The Council says that the adviser’s recent comment about splitting NBR into two directorates and dissolving the board contradicts that commitment. “This shift in policy amounts to nothing less than a betrayal of public trust,” they said.