December deadline is missed and bid for completing all must-dos for bifurcating the revenue board within January has yet to get into right gear although revenue-sector overhaul is among major uprising-mandated reforms.
Officials say the final stages of splitting the National Board of Revenue (NBR) into two separate entities have proven to be more complex and time-consuming than initially anticipated.
The key pending task is finalising the Rules of Business (RoB) and Allocation of Business (AoB). The twin rules for setting up the bifurcation bedrock "must first receive approval from the pre-NICAR, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, and subsequently from NICAR, chaired by the Chief Adviser of the interim government".
Chairman of the NBR Abdur Rahman Khan explained the modus operandi in talk with The Financial Express.
In May last year, the government issued an ordinance dissolving the existing NBR structure and creating two separate departments styled the Department of Revenue Policy and the Department of Revenue Administration.
A Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) is also required to clearly define the responsibilities, jurisdiction, and operational framework of the two new departments, officials have said.
The organisational structure has yet to be finalised, delaying the deployment of manpower to the two wings and the start of their formal operations.
"I see some challenges in the bifurcation that were not anticipated earlier. The process is not as easy to fast-track as initially thought," says the government's revenue chief.
A series of inter-ministerial meetings were held over the past few weeks to give final stitches to the proposed structure. The NBR incorporated recommendations from major ministries, including the ministries of Public Administration, Commerce, Shipping, and Road Transport.
The collated proposal was submitted to the Cabinet Division for approval but was returned with observations, officials say. Following revisions, the NBR has resubmitted the draft RoB and AoB to the Cabinet Division.
A pre-NICAR meeting is scheduled for January 7 where the proposals will be placed to get the go-ahead. Once pre-NICAR gives the seal of approval, the draft will be forwarded to NICAR for final clearance.
While some officials are in doubt about the bifurcation taking effect before the next fiscal year, the NBR chairman dismisses the speculations.
"The interim government intends to execute the bifurcation within its tenure, before the February 12, 2025 national elections," says the NBR chief.
He acknowledges that the process is lengthy and requires a cautious approach to ensure a smooth transition.
A senior official involved in drafting the documents says once NICAR grants approval, the upgradation proposal would be sent to the Ministry of Public Administration for further action.
"Various observations emerged during the inter-ministerial meetings, and we accommodated those," the official adds.
Following the bifurcation move, the NBR witnessed an unprecedented volatility in its central offices and field offices, triggered by work stoppage, noncooperation move by the officials and suspension, termination and forced retirement of taxmen by government high-ups.
The original ordinance was issued on May 12, 2025. Later, the government formed a five-member advisory committee, headed by Energy and Road Transport adviser Dr Foujul Kabir Khan, to amend the ordinance following flare-ups at the NBR over provisions allowing other cadres to lead its policy wing.
As per the ordinance, NBR officials would be able to lead the revenue-management wing, but revenue policy wing has been opened to government officials having expertise on macro-economy, trade policy, planning, and revenue policy or revenue-management issues.
"Revenue policy department would have officials having experiences in income-tax policy, double taxation-avoidance treaty, international treaties and vetting, customs policy, VAT policy, international trade and customs-related agreements," it reads.
Other posts of the revenue-policy wing are kept for officials having experiences in research and statistics, accounting and audit, ICT and law.
doulotakter11@gmail.com.
© 2026 - All Rights with The Financial Express
