Spadework for the much-hyped bifurcation of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) picks speed as the government decides to make the reform progress before the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) next month.
As the separation of the NBR is one of the conditions set by development partners for budgetary-credit support, officials say the government may face questions from the multilateral lenders over this issue at the meetings, scheduled to be held on October 13-18 in Washington.
On May 12 this year, the government issued an ordinance to split the NBR into two divisions: 'Revenue Policy' and 'Revenue Management'.
Several provisions of the ordinance were amended on September 3, amid flare-ups of countrywide protests by tax, VAT and customs officials worried about losing out on posts and promotions if the draft law was implemented.
Senior revenue officials say five committees have been formed to finalise recruitment rules and deputy-secretary promotion rules, the organogram, rules of business, rules of origin and warrant of precedence, cadre composition and reorganisation, and integrated recruitment rules.
A senior NBR official said the committees, comprising income tax, VAT and customs officials, would submit their reports to the NBR chairman within the next 10 days.
The tax officials' team is working under the direct supervision of Income Tax Policy Member Mutassim Billah Faruqui and Customs Bond, Export and IT Member Kazi Mustafizur Rahman. For cadre composition and reorganisation, two separate committees of income tax and VAT members are working on behalf of their respective cadres.
For recruitment rules, Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) Director Wakil Ahmed is the convenor of a seven-member committee. First Secretary of Customs Policy Md Rois Uddin Khan is heading a six-member committee on the organogram.
Md Shafiur Rahman, Additional Commissioner of Customs House at Kamalapur Inland Container Depot, is heading a seven-member committee on the rules of business and warrant of precedence.
Another seven-member panel on integrated recruitment rules is led by Md Tareq Hassan, First Secretary of Customs Modernisation and Project Management.
A senior NBR official says the government is determined to complete the bifurcation process before the national elections, scheduled for February next year.
Dispelling doubts regarding delays, the official says, "The interim government is receiving full cooperation from NBR leadership in carrying out the reform."
This is one of the major reform plans of the Dr Yunus administration, which faced strong resistance from NBR officials, leading to a virtual shutdown of domestic revenue mobilisation in May and June.
"Already eight to nine months have passed off since the ordinance on NBR separation was issued, but no significant progress is visible," Farid Uddin, member of the NBR reform committee and former VAT-wing member, told The Financial Express.
He thinks the outcome depends entirely on government's willingness to implement the reform within its tenure, saying that framing the rules was not a complex process.
However, he cautions that bifurcation alone won't be enough to attract investment unless the government addresses "more fundamental reform needs, such as integrated digitisation, rationalisation of tax at source, and the adoption of international best practices".
Mr Farid also notes that separation of the NBR was not a major demand from investors and the business community, who instead called for improved, integrated services free from harassment.
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