Govt to split NBR into policy and implementation wings: Khosru
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury announced the move while speaking at an event at a city hotel today.
The government is set to split the National Board of Revenue into separate policy and implementation wings as part of broader efforts to address Bangladesh's persistently low tax-to-GDP ratio and strengthen revenue administration, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said today (21 June).
Speaking at a budget dialogue organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue at a hotel in Dhaka, Khosru said the planned restructuring would separate tax policy formulation from tax administration, with experts rather than bureaucrats taking the lead in designing tax policies.
He argued that weaknesses in tax policy formulation were at the core of the country's revenue challenges.
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"Bangladesh's major taxation problem and NBR's problem is policy-making. If you get that right to start with, then 50% of the problem is solved," he said.
According to the minister, the policy wing will comprise tax specialists and individuals with a strong understanding of Bangladesh's socio-economic realities, while career bureaucrats will focus on implementation and enforcement.
"We want an expert group to make the policy, not the bureaucrats. The expert group will make the policy. Bureaucrats' job is to execute it," he said.
The interim government on 13 May 2025 proceeded with the reforms, officially dissolving the NBR and establishing two separate entities -- the Revenue Policy Division and the Revenue Management Division.
The move later got stalled amid protest by revenue officials who viewed the move as undermining their roles and the integrity of the tax administration system.
