05/13/2025
What Happened? 🇧🇩
The government of Bangladesh is shutting down the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and replacing it with two separate departments:
1. Revenue Policy Division – decides tax rules and policies
2. Revenue Management Division – collects taxes and makes sure people follow the rules
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Why Are They Doing This?
• The current system wasn’t working well—the NBR kept missing its targets.
• Only 7.4% of Bangladesh’s GDP comes from taxes (very low compared to other countries).
• The same people were making the tax rules and collecting taxes, which led to corruption, inefficiency, and unfairness.
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Main Problems with the Old NBR:
• Conflict of interest: Tax collectors had too much power and little accountability.
• Weak enforcement: Many tax evaders got away with it.
• Poor planning: More focus on collecting money than long-term fairness.
• Internal issues: Officers felt ignored or frustrated.
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How the New System Will Help:
• Separate teams will handle making rules and collecting money—so no more power abuse.
• More focus on building a fair and efficient tax system.
• More people and businesses will be brought into the tax system.
• Investors may feel more confident with a transparent and organized tax process.
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In Simple Words:
Bangladesh is breaking up its tax office into two parts so it can fix corruption, collect more taxes fairly, and make better decisions for the country’s growth.
