Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed on Sunday stressed the need for more efficient and client-friendly taxpayer services and urged tax officials, lawyers, chartered accountants and company secretaries to prioritise professionalism and transparency.
“Please provide quick service, dispose the cases of your clients promptly, make sure that your clients are not having hassle,” he said while speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural programme of the Tax Representative Management System (TRMS) software at the multipurpose hall of the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
The software was designed to provide scope for the income tax practitioners to submit tax returns for their cleints through online system.
Dr Salehuddin said the new system will bring benefits for all stakeholders—taxpayers, tax practitioners, and revenue collectors—by reducing paperwork, saving time, and minimising harassment.
Highlighting the common tendency of relying on foreign consultants and software, he said hiring from abroad needed spending additional money unnecessarily where often hidden interests are involved.
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This initiative (making this software by the NBR officials) proves that we are capable of building efficient systems ourselves, he added.
“If you provide services efficiently, people will not hesitate to pay your fees. But if you keep them waiting or push them towards under-the-table solutions, it undermines trust in the entire system,” he said.
Dr Salehuddin stressed that good service in the revenue sector is crucial for improving compliance and enhancing government revenue.
He added that the success of TRMS depends on sincere efforts and goodwill from all parties.
“Whichever government comes, it will take time to understand new systems. But if we can show results now, people will see the light of change in Bangladesh,” he said.
The finance adviser also thanked the team members who worked hard to develop the TRMS saying it is a step toward reducing dependency on foreign solutions and ensuring better taxpayer services in the country.
National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan who presided over the programme said that the TRMS programme will mark a major shift in Bangladesh’s tax return filing, as the system has been developed entirely by local talent.
“It is truly a proud day for us because this system is homegrown. Our own IT team, who studied in public universities here, built it successfully. They proved that if graduates from our universities can work at Google or Amazon abroad, they can also develop such solutions for Bangladesh.”
He highlighted that the system will benefit both taxpayers and tax practitioners by ensuring speed, accuracy, and digital record-keeping.
Tax practitioners will now have their own database of clients’ returns, which can be archived, viewed, and printed anytime. This will eliminate the hassle of losing physical files, he said.
The NBR chief acknowledged that filing returns is often complex and requires professional support, but stressed that TRMS will reduce dependency on manual processes.
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He also assured that technical issues will be addressed promptly as the system was designed in-house.
He noted that TRMS is integrated with several national databases, including NID and telecom servers, and despite interdependence-related challenges, the system is expected to improve with user feedback and training.
The chairman also announced that making online return submission mandatory this year will help NBR introduce automated, risk-based audit selection.
“This will end discrimination where some taxpayers face audits repeatedly while others never do. Next year, we plan to bring corporate tax online and even launch a mobile app for filing both corporate and income tax returns,” he added.
The NBR chief further explained that NBR is working to connect commercial banks with the TRMS to enable auto-fill of financial information in tax returns.
“Our officers will not access transaction details. The goal is to reduce mistakes and prevent tax evasion,” he added.
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Calling for cooperation from tax practitioners and taxpayers, the NBR chairman said the new system will ultimately allow professionals to focus more on tax planning rather than spending time on procedural work.