Under the banner of the NBR Reform Unity Council, a new program titled “March to NBR” has been announced as part of the ongoing movement, as officials from tax, customs, and VAT offices across the country will march towards the NBR headquarters on Saturday and warn of a complete shutdown of all activities.
Officials and employees of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) continue their movement, ignoring calls for discussion from the NBR and the financial adviser.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, the NBR Reform Council issued a press release stating that they would not attend the scheduled meeting with Financial Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Thursday. Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Finance had extended the invitation.
The organization said: “The desired reform of the NBR must not remain limited to rhetoric — actions must follow. The first step is to immediately remove the current chairman.”
They further announced that they would present a complete outline of revenue system reforms on July 7.
As part of the ongoing movement, a pen-down and sit-in program will be observed across all tax, customs, and VAT offices in the country from 12pm to 5pm on Thursday. However, international passenger services and export operations will remain outside the scope of this program.
According to the announcement, if the current NBR chairman is not removed by Friday, a continuous “complete shutdown” of tax, customs, and VAT offices will commence on Saturday. International passenger services will remain exempt.
It should be noted that on May 12, the government issued an ordinance dissolving the NBR and the Internal Resources Division (IRD), and decided to form two separate entities titled the Revenue Policy Division and the Revenue Management Division. Since then, NBR officials and employees have been protesting against the decision.
On May 26, the government stated that the necessary amendments to the reorganization ordinance would be made through dialogue by July 31.
However, the protestors are demanding that instead of amendments, the ordinance must be scrapped entirely, and a clear roadmap should be set for forming a transparent and effective revenue administration.