The five-member Advisory Committee formed to propose positive reforms in National Board of Revenue (NBR) is likely to start its activities from next week although there is some confusions among the members regarding their facilities for work and jurisdiction. On Wednesday the interim government through a gazette notification formed the five-member committee comprising two former NBR chairmen and three former NBR members. The ex-chairmen are- Muhammad Abdul Mazid and Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed while three former members are— M Delowar Hossain, Farid Uddin and Aminur Rahman. As per the gazette, the advisory committee will advise on fiscal policy reforms, revenue administration reforms, assess the institutional capacity of the National Board of Revenue and provide recommendations for modernisation, advise on formulation of institutional frameworks and policies for integrity and good governance, advise on citizen communication and stakeholder engagement activities and any other policy advice related to revenue reforms. NBR reduces regulatory duty on sugar imports by 50% to stabilize prices National Board of Revenue (Board Administration) member shall perform the secretarial duties of the committee. But there is no time limit for the committee to complete its task. Also there is no indication to whom the committee would submit their proposals and what will be the legal framework of its proposals, according to sources involved in the process. It also does not indicate who will lead the committee. Talking to UNB on condition of anonymity a member of this committee alleged that without any leader who will lead the team. “To whom the member secretary would listen regarding any issue, like calling the meeting,” he said. He mentioned that the other committees that have been formed by this government to bring reforms in various sectors have their respective offices and staffs. “Where will we sit for the meeting or our regular works?,” he asked. He also said there is no clarity about the duration of the committee.  “This committee can not run for an infinite time. Every other reently committee has its specific timeframe to work,” he added. He also said that these fundamental issues should be there for the members to work properly. The member of the committee hoped that the government would give a clarification very soon regarding this advisory committee. NBR forms task force to reform income tax law The interim government was formed on August 8 after the overthrow of the Sheikh Hasina government in a student-led mass movement on August 5. It has undertaken various reforms mesures in various fields. As a part of this, the NBR reform advisory committee has been formed. Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed during his recent visists to the NBR asked its officials not to collect taxes forcefully from the taxpayers, rather widen the net of revenue collection. He put emphasis on depositing the taxes in the national exchequer without any pilferage.

The National Technical Advisory Committee on the Covid-19 pandemic recommended that a complete nationwide ‘shutdown’ be enforced for at least two weeks to deal with the worsening Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh. Community transmission of the highly transmissible Delta variant of coronavirus might be the reason behind deterioration in  the Covid-19 situation in the country, said the committee in a media release. The committee used the example of India as areference to emphasize that no step other than a complete shutdown might be enough to prevent the spread of the Delta variant of the virus. Also read: Rapid rise in Bangladesh’s Covid cases, 81 more die “Everything, including offices, courts and businesses, need to be closed for at least 14 days. Otherwise, no other steps taken by the government will be enough to contain the virus,” the committee said.The committee also recommended that at least 80 % of the population should be brought under the vaccination drive, aiming to bring back normal life. Meanwhile, Bangladesh recorded 6,058 newinfections and 81 deaths in the last 24 hours until Thursday morning. Also read: Countries like Bangladesh need support for vaccine production: FM This is the highest number of single-day positive cases in 73 days since April 12. However, the positivity rate fell slightly to19.93 % on Thursday and the death rate remained static at 1.59 %.