Discontent over draft to split revenue policy and management

The draft of a presidential ordinance aimed at separating revenue policy from management has sparked controversy among stakeholders.

The move was aimed at streamlining the revenue management system, ensuring compliance, and making it more sustainable by ensuring independent operations.

Once gazetted, the ordinance will dissolve the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and establish two new bodies: the Revenue Policy Division and the Revenue Management Division.

However, concerns have emerged that the draft may have deviated from the original intent, potentially undermining the reform process.

The Revenue Reform Committee's recommendations on the separation of revenue policy and management have been largely overlooked, according to some tax officials and committee members. 

The committee had proposed that professionals from various fields, such as business, economics, and chartered accounting, be included in policy-making, alongside the tax and customs cadres. 

However, the draft appears to have largely ignored this, with the policy and management powers seemingly remaining in the hands of the administration cadre, they said.

Md Farid Uddin, member of the Revenue Reform Committee, said the way the draft has been prepared, it effectively hands control of revenue policy to the administration cadres.

"This has been done deliberately," he told The Business Standard. "It will not fulfill the purpose of separation."

Md Aminur Rahman, another committee member, said, "We had recommended that officials from various sectors, including business and economics experts, be involved in policy formation. However, the draft has excluded this input."

Redwan Ahmed, deputy secretary of the Internal Resource Division (IRD) and an officer from the administration cadre, responded by saying that the claims about administration cadres gaining control are premature. 

"Only the draft has been approved; the organogram is still pending. Once that is finalised, the matter will be clearer," he explained.

Meanwhile, Humayun Kabir, joint secretary of the IRD, said, "The NBR chairman handled everything. Other officials had no role in drafting this."

NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan, who also serves as the secretary of the IRD, was in Washington until yesterday. When approached for comment, he declined to provide a statement on the matter.

In the wake of these developments, the draft ordinance is set to be issued soon, but discontent is brewing among NBR officials. 

On Saturday and Sunday, separate meetings were held by the customs and income tax cadre officials to express their frustration over the draft. They are planning to raise the issue with the finance adviser in a larger forum next Saturday.