Government authorities have moved to expedite settlement of pending tax-related cases by appointing lawyers at the National Board of Revenue (NBR), as billions of taka is trapped under a logjam of lawsuits.
Officials said the revenue board would have three lawyers for its three wings -- income tax, customs and Value Added Tax (VAT).
The proposal on appointing lawyers for NBR recently received approval from Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
The decision on appointing lawyers was taken in an inter-ministerial meeting after government high-ups found some Tk 260 billion worth of revenue trapped in a logjam of 15,000 cases pending with different courts and tribunals of the NBR.
The Internal Resources Division (IRD) has prepared a compensation package for the lawyers who would help government to recover the large sum of stuck-up revenues.
Tax officials said the NBR faces difficulties in speeding up settlement of tax-related cases for lack of experienced tax lawyers on the government side while large corporate taxpayers can afford experts to fight on their front in the legal battles.
The tax-related cases are currently dealt by the government prosecutors under the Attorney- General Office on behalf of the NBR.
Tax officials felt the necessity of hiring own lawyers to put up a decisive fight for the NBR to retrieve the cache of taxes.
The lawyers, likely to be designated 'retainer advocate', would attend hearing and conduct other works related to the pending cases.
In 2005, there were three retainer advocates. Their contracts expired in 2008. The appointment of fresh lawyers remained shelved since the expiry of their tenure.
A senior tax official said there would be one senior lawyer and two junior lawyers.
"The NBR is now waiting for approval for its proposal on compensation package for the lawyers," he said.
The board would move to invite applications for recruitment of lawyers after obtaining approval from the ministry of finance on that proposal, he added.
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