The government is likely to appoint officials from administration cadre alongside existing employees in the proposed Revenue Management Division, according to a draft law recently approved by the Advisory Council.

According to the draft law which lays out the structure for the new division,  “Various posts in the administrative division of the Revenue Management Division will be filled from the Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration) cadre and employees working in the National Board of Revenue (NBR).”

The interim government has already cleared the draft law which seeks to split the National Board of Revenue (NBR) into two separate entities: the Revenue Policy Division and the Revenue Management Division.

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It was proposed by the committee to provide recommendations on tax policy reforms, improvements in tax administration, automation and other related matters.

The government formed the committee on October 9 last year, comprising former NBR chairmen Muhammad Abdul Mazid and Nasiruddin Ahmed and former NBR members Delwar Hossain and Aminur Rahman.

According to the proposed law, it is necessary to separate the government's revenue policy formulation activities and revenue collection management activities.

The proposed law says it is necessary to create a Revenue Policy Division and a Revenue Management Division by restructuring the current system to make revenue collection more transparent, accountable and efficient.

As Parliament is dissolved, the President will promulgate the ordinance under Article 93(1) of the Constitution, to be titled The Revenue Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance, 2025.

Once the ordinance is promulgated, the government will establish the Revenue Management Division under the Ministry of Finance through a gazette notification.

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The government will formulate an appropriate organizational structure for the Revenue Management Department.

The draft law mentioned that Government will give priority to a qualified government servant with experience in revenue collection work in the appointment of Secretary/Senior Secretary of the Revenue Management Department.

According to the NBR officials, this clause will pave the way for the Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner (Land) to be eligible for getting any post in the priposed Revenue Management Division saying that these two posts also involved with revenue collection like the other NBR officials.

It also said that Recruitment will be made from the Bangladesh Civil Service (Customs and Excise) and Bangladesh Civil Service (Tax) cadres for various posts in the Income Tax, Value Added Tax and Customs Law implementation related sub-divisions of the Revenue Management Division.

The proposed law said that posts assigned by the Revenue Management Division in the field level implementation of the laws mentioned in the schedule shall be fillable from the officers working in the Bangladesh Civil Service (Tax), Bangladesh Civil Service (Customs and Excise) cadre and the field level employees of the Revenue Management Division.

The Revenue Management Division shall be the controlling authority of the officers working in the Bangladesh Civil Service (Tax) and Bangladesh Civil Service (Customs and Excise) cadre.

The Revenue Management Division shall perform all departmental activities related to the appointment, promotion, posting and discipline of all employees outside its cadre.

The Income Tax Appeal and Customs and Value Added Tax Appeal Offices shall be under the administrative control of the Revenue Management Division.

Scope of work of the Revenue  Management Division. The Revenue Management Division shall perform the following functions, namely:-

(a) Enforcement of the laws and related rules as mentioned in the Schedule.

(b) Proper implementation of international agreements relating to customs.

(c) Proper implementation of international agreements relating to the avoidance of double taxation.

(d) Human resource management of the Bangladesh Civil Service (Customs and Excise) and Bangladesh Civil Service (Tax) cadres.

(e) Non-cadre human resource management of the Revenue Management Division and its subordinate departments.

(f) Strengthening tax services, incentive programs and taking effective initiatives to bring everyone into the tax net with the aim of expanding the tax base.

(g) Budget preparation, budget implementation and logistics related activities of the Revenue Management Division.

(h) Formulation of procedures related to revenue management;

(i) To undertake and implement necessary projects to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and dynamism of revenue management activities and to ensure transparency and accountability.

(j) Supervision and management of subordinate offices.

(k) To complete comprehensive automation activities quickly by establishing interconnection between the inter-wings of the Revenue Management Department and the Revenue Policy Department and all the related departments.

(l) To coordinate with the Revenue Policy Department on various issues related to revenue policy formulation and implementation, to provide necessary training to develop skilled manpower and to conduct audit and intelligence activities; and

(l) To perform any other duties assigned by the government.

The draft further states that  once the Revenue Policy Division and Revenue Management Division are established, the current manpower of the National Board of Revenue will be transferred to the Revenue Management Division.

From this manpower pool, necessary postings will be made to the Revenue Policy Division based on the committee’s recommendations.

At the same time, the existing Internal Resources Division will be abolished, and its manpower will be vested in the Revenue Policy Division. The government will also appropriately divide the Internal Resources Division’s current functions between the Revenue Policy Division and other departments under the Finance Ministry.

Both the Revenue Policy and Revenue Management Divisions will be authorised to frame rules, issue orders, and provide clarifications as necessary for smooth functioning.