NBR split: Import, export activities to remain suspended as well

The NBR Reform Unity Council, a platform of tax officers, has called for a full-fledged work stoppage demanding repeal of the ordinance that split the National Board of Revenue (NBR), essentially dissolving the agency.

Starting Monday, they will carry out this programme nationwide at all tax, customs, and value-added tax (VAT) offices, resulting in a suspension of all import and export activities.

International passenger services, as well as the import of medicines and life-saving equipment, will be exempt from the strike, the council said.

On May 12, the interim government issued the “Revenue Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance, 2025”, bifurcating the NBR.

From the next day onward, the employees of the country’s main revenue-collecting body have been carrying out continuous programmes, including sit-ins and work stoppages. However, this is the first time that a full-scale work stoppage has been called.

The protesters have raised questions about the government’s claim that international partner agencies advised on the matter.

In a press release on Sunday, the council posed three questions to the government.

It asked, “Did any donor agency recommend abolishing the NBR to separate revenue reforms and policies?

“Was there any discussion with development partners about the NBR’s abolition when the ordinance was drafted?

“Did any development partner make the NBR’s abolition a condition for their loan?”

The statement said that in many countries, revenue collection and policy institutions operate not under the executive branch, but as independent and autonomous bodies. For this reason, while development partners may advocate separating policy and administration, it is unlikely they would recommend abolishing the NBR and placing it under the executive branch.

“We have always been in favour of reforms and still are. We want these reforms to align with internationally recognised best practices and procedures,” the statement read.

It added that the NBR Reform Unity Council agrees with the government’s plan to separate revenue policy and implementation as part of revenue reform. However, the implementation of an untested model of reform through the creation of two divisions under the ordinance raises questions about its effectiveness in increasing revenue collection.

“Instead of an independent revenue agency, creating two divisions could damage the broader national interest of boosting domestic revenue and empower groups lacking knowledge, skills and practical experience in tax revenue collection.”

The board also highlighted that revenue management activities in many developed and developing countries are carried out by independent and autonomous agencies or bodies.

The council said, “We, too, want our National Board of Revenue to collect revenue for the country’s development as an independent, autonomous and specialised institution like in other countries.”

The four key demands of their protest are:

Immediate scrapping of the ordinance

Sacking the current NBR chairman

Publishing the advisory committee’s reform recommendations online

Inclusive and sustainable revenue reform through consultation with stakeholders, including civil society, political leaders, and business groups.

Amid their pre-announced movement on Saturday, a large number of Army, police, BGB, and RAB personnel were deployed in the Rajashwa Bhaban, or Revenue Building.

Although they did not engage in direct arguments with the NBR officials, the protesters were allegedly prevented from holding a press briefing inside the building. Later they organised a briefing outside the facility.