An experienced and qualified officer in the revenue sector will be made the head of the Revenue Policy Department. In addition, a proposal to bring in a total of 11 amendments was passed at the Advisory Council meeting.
Major amendments have been made to the much-discussed revenue sector reform ordinance. The Advisory Council has given final approval to the draft of the ‘Revenue Policy and Revenue Management (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025’.
Any cadre officer will be appointed as the head or secretary of the Revenue Policy Department in the two divisions that are being formed after the National Board of Revenue (NBR), said the Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam.
This approval was given at the Advisory Council meeting held at the chief adviser’s office in Tejgaon in the capital on Thursday. It was presided over by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.
The two wings of the NBR will be headed by individuals selected on the basis of their qualifications, experience and fairness. They will be selected from any cadre after judging their qualifications. This was decided by the cabinet today.
The press secretary added that the decision was based on the recommendations of the Advisory Council Committee formed under the leadership of Energy Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan. However, the process of appointing the secretary of the Revenue Management Division will remain as before, said the press secretary.
After the issuance of the Revenue Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance, 2025, on May 12, the officials and employees of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) protested for about a month and a half in opposition to it. Work in the country’s customs and tax offices stopped at the end of June. In such a situation, the officials and employees of the NBR suspended the protest with the mediation of businessmen. Now, various disciplinary measures, including dismissals and transfers, are being taken in the NBR due to the movement.
On May 12, an ordinance was issued to abolish the NBR and create two departments -revenue policy and revenue management. Since then, NBR officials and employees have been protesting for about a month and a half, demanding rational reforms based on the opinions of all parties.
On June 29, the Advisory Council approved the amendment proposal to amend the ordinance based on the recommendations of the committee.
Shafiqul Alam said that the Advisory Council committee formed exchanged views with members of the National Board of Revenue, BCS Taxation Special Duty, Cadre Association representatives, members of the National Board of Revenue Reform Advisory Committee and business representatives and visited several field-level income tax, customs and VAT offices.
Laundered money
The chief adviser’s press secretary said that teams from Bangladesh’s banks, ACC, NBR and CID are working on money laundered abroad. This is a very extensive task.
“I think it will take a few years to bring back the entire amount,” he added.
Recently, the Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has found assets worth around Tk40,000 crores that were laundered from Bangladesh to various countries around the world. This information was found through a search in seven cities in five countries since January this year, CIC Director General Ahsan Habib told Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.
In response to a question about how much of this money will be recovered, the press secretary said there are many legal processes with assets worth Tk40,000 crores abroad. There are many legal complications here. As a result, we cannot reveal the names of many people or where their assets are. But the assets of many of them have been mentioned in British newspapers.
He further said: “Since the assets were purchased abroad by laundering money from us, we are working to sell them and bring back the entire money. This is a very time-consuming matter. However, these works are being done seriously.”
