The widely discussed “Revenue Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance” has been issued, disregarding the opinions of Bangladesh Civil Service BCS Income Tax and Customs cadre officials. The ordinance, issued on Monday night (May 12), only brings slight changes to the scope of the Revenue Policy Division. In the administrative positions of the Revenue Management Division, officers from the Admin Cadre have been included alongside officers from the Income Tax and Customs Cadres.
Following the issuance of this government gazette, Kalbela spoke with about a dozen officials from the tax and customs cadres to gather immediate reactions. They expressed disappointment, stating that many of their expectations were not met. They announced that a previously scheduled sit-in program would be held at the NBR building, where further protest plans would be declared.
According to the draft of the ordinance, the Revenue Policy Division will monitor the implementation of tax laws and the state of tax collection. Various administrative positions in the Revenue Management Division will be filled by Admin Cadre officials and employees working at the field level under the Revenue Management Division. The ordinance states that the Revenue Policy Division will evaluate the implementation of tax laws and the situation of tax collection—replacing the term “monitoring” with “evaluation.”
Administrative positions in the Revenue Management Division will be filled by both Admin Cadre and Income Tax and Customs Cadre officials, along with field-level employees from the division. Under the new ordinance, the manpower of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) will be transferred to the Revenue Management Division. From this manpower pool, necessary personnel can be deputed to the Revenue Policy Division. Additionally, the Internal Resources Division (IRD) will be dissolved, and its personnel will be transferred to the Revenue Policy Division.
Earlier on Monday, in protest of the dissolution of the NBR, more than 500 officers from the Income Tax and Customs Cadres and third- and fourth-class employees from various tax regions, customs houses, and VAT commissionerates in Dhaka held demonstrations at the Revenue Building in Agargaon. From 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, they held repeated meetings, effectively bringing revenue collection activities to a standstill.
After nearly nine hours of phased meetings, a platform called “NBR Reform Unity Council” announced the protest program. Under this banner, they declared a sit-in protest in front of the NBR building on Tuesday (May 13) at 3:00 PM. They strongly condemned the passing of the draft ordinance without stakeholder consultation and expressed anger over the lack of public disclosure of the ordinance’s content. Meanwhile, the new ordinance was issued later that night.
Recognizing the existential crisis, two associations held an emergency general meeting (EGM), demanding the immediate withdrawal of the draft and the reversal of the NBR dissolution. Stakeholders such as the Bangladesh Tax Lawyers Association and the Dhaka Taxes Bar Association also made similar demands at a press conference.
Despite significant challenges in revenue collection, operations have come to a halt since the approval of the draft ordinance, with revenue officers losing focus on their duties. On the first day of the movement, officials and employees present said that considering the situation, they might go on a work stoppage.
According to NBR sources, there was a shortfall of Tk 65,665 crore in the first nine months of the 2024–25 fiscal year. To meet the target in the remaining three months, daily revenue collection must be Tk 2,275 crore. If a work stoppage begins at this time, the government could face a severe revenue crisis.