Refrain from misleading govt with false info: Finance adviser tells lawyers

Mandatory online corporate tax-return filing from next year: NBR chairman

FE Team | Published: September 14, 2025 22:25:43

FE REPORT
Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed on Sunday called on the country's lawyers, especially tax lawyers and representatives, to refrain from misleading the government with false information.
"Both plaintiff and defendant lawyers may lie or hide the truth," he said while addressing at the inauguration ceremony of 'Tax Representative Management System (TRMS) software at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) headquarters in the city on Sunday.
NBR Chairman Dr Abdur Rahman Khan presided over the programme.
Dr Ahmed said the TRMS system is a significant step towards the digitisation that would help make the tax payment process hassle-free.
He also urged lawyers not to harass clients by delaying tax-related services, saying: "If you keep telling clients to come today, come tomorrow. That is harassment."
He also encouraged lawyers to provide fast and efficient services to the taxpayers.
"If you expedite your work, the process will be completed faster and your income will increase. But if you take money under the table and delay services, the tax collection would be affected."
"We want to make some contribution before leaving (our jobs) in February next," Dr Salehuddin said, citing the same desire of the Chief Adviser.
The next government will need time to understand, he added. "…and there's the matter of goodwill. If we can show at least a little ray of hope within the stipulated time, it will matter."
The finance advisor also highlighted the prevalence of bribery and harassment in the country's service sector. He also recalled the story of a former Chief Immigration Commissioner, who paid bribes for obtaining a telephone connection: "Even if I had called 50 times, it probably wouldn't have worked. But I paid the money, and it worked."
Hailing the home-grown TRMS, Dr. Ahmed said the habit of appointing foreign firms for such work must be discouraged as local software developers have already acquired their efficiency to contribute.
In his speech, the NBR chairman said the submission of corporate-tax returns will come under a mandatory online system from next year.
To this effect, the NBR is developing an app, he added.
Special guests at the event, among others, were Advocate Ramiz Uddin Ahmed, President of the Bangladesh Tax Lawyers Association; Mahtab Uddin, President of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB); and M. Nasimul Hai, President of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh.
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