Prime Minister's Advisor Salman F Rahman critisizes National Board of Revenue

The Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Advisor Salman F Rahman said that National Board of Revenue (NBR) is taxing those within tax net more, while others left untouched. Further criticising the NBR, he said, "The policy that the NBR has been following does not really deserve praise; if it did, our tax-GDP ratio would not be decreasing; it should be increasing.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is the Central Authority for Tax Administration in Bangladesh. It was established in 1972 through the National Board of Revenue Order, 1972. Later, the structure of the National Board of Revenue was amended through Act No 12 of 2009 It is a Statutory Authority attached with the Internal Resources Division of Ministry of Finance. NBR is the Authority for Tax Policies and Tax Laws in Bangladesh. NBR collects almost 97% of Tax Revenue and almost 85% of total Revenue for the Government of Bangladesh.

"We need to reverse this trend by widening the tax net and lowering the tax rates; this is the only way to increase revenue," he said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of 29th Annual US Trade Show at the InterContinental Hotel as the chief guest. Further criticising the NBR, he said, "The policy that the NBR has been following does not really deserve praise; if it did, our tax-GDP ratio would not be decreasing; it should be increasing."

He also said, "One of our major challenges is the tax and VAT regime; we need to change our tax regime as our tax-GDP ratio is the lowest in South Asia".

Compared to last year, this year the tax ratio has declined. In October 2023, the National Board of Revenue failed to impress the International Monetary Fund with its plan to raise taxes.