Revenue collection plummets in June amid NBR officials' strike

Highlights:

• Revenue collection drops by Tk10,000 crore in June
• Shortfall marks 19% year-on-year decline
• Strikes by officials paralysed tax collection activities

The country's revenue collection suffered a major setback in June as strikes by officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) brought tax collection activities to a near standstill, resulting in a record shortfall for the month.

According to NBR data, revenue collection in June 2025 fell by nearly Tk10,000 crore, marking a 19% year-on-year decline.

The collections in June stood at Tk43,092 crore, down from Tk53,046 crore a year earlier. Against the monthly target, the shortfall was nearly one-third.

Revenue collection typically peaks in the final two months of the fiscal year, but the NBR's activities were severely hampered for nearly a third of June, with a complete shutdown in the final days of the month.

NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan believes this was the primary reason for the sharp decline in revenue. He told TBS that without the protest, the NBR could have collected an additional Tk10,000 crore, bringing the total for the fiscal year to at least Tk3.80 lakh crore.

For the full 2024-25 fiscal year, total revenue collection amounted to approximately Tk3.71 lakh crore, a modest increase from Tk3.63 lakh crore in the previous year. This represents a growth rate of just 2.23% – the lowest since the Covid-19-hit fiscal year of 2019-20.

The shortfall against the annual target was Tk92,126 crore, or roughly one-fifth – the largest gap in five decades.

Revenue growth had shown signs of recovery earlier in the year, hitting over 14% in April, aided by renewed economic activity following the interim government's assumption of office in August 2024 after the Mass Uprising. However, the June strike and its aftermath left the revenue administration facing a severe trust deficit, with uncertainty looming over its ability to meet future targets.

The protest was triggered by an ordinance that dissolved the NBR and replaced it with two new divisions. NBR officials claimed the move was a strategic manoeuvre to hand control of the departments to administration cadre officers. The protest escalated, culminating in a complete shutdown of import-export activities at the Chattogram Custom House on 28 and 29 June.

The government's firm response led officials to return to work, but the aftermath saw around 20 officials suspended or forcibly retired, with others facing disciplinary action.

This created an environment of fear and a crisis of confidence within the NBR's field-level operations, leaving officers reluctant to undertake special drives to boost collections.

Broken down by sector, customs revenue in June fell by 19% year-on-year, VAT by 30%, and income tax by 9%. For the entire fiscal year, import duty collection grew by a mere 0.33%, VAT by 3.01%, and income and travel tax by 2.87%.