12 new offices introduced in NBR’s customs and VAT unit

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been administratively reformed, restructured and expanded its Customs and VAT unit, creating 12 new commissionarates, Customs Houses and specialised units.

The Internal Resources Division (IRD) issued an order in this regard on Tuesday, the NBR said in a press release on Wednesday.

The organisation claims that it has brought about a “massive expansion” in customs and VAT administration “with the aim of increasing tax net”.

The statement says that the workforce in the existing commissionarates, Customs Houses and specialised units of the customs and VAT unit will increase and a total of 3,597 new posts, including 373 cadre posts and 3,224 non-cadre posts, in 12 new commissionarates, Customs Houses and specialised units will be created newly due to the expansion.

NBR says that through the expansion of tax net and collecting more taxes, it will “achieving self-reliance in the national economy”, “ensure a business-friendly environment” through improving the quality of services, and above all, make administrative reforms, reorganisations and expansions of the customs and VAT departments with the aim of making the indirect tax system more “dynamic and effective”.

According to the NBR's proposal, the IRD issued the order after obtaining all necessary administrative approvals from the Ministry of Public Administration, Finance Department, and Cabinet Division.

According to the order, five new value added tax commissionarates, four new Customs Houses, and three specialised offices were created in three phases.

The order also includes expansion of existing commissionarates, Customs Houses and specialised units, expansion and decentralisation of customs operations at the third terminal of Dhaka Airport and customs and VAT intelligence operations.

NBR believes that administrative reform, reorganisation and expansion of customs and VAT departments will increase the institutional capacity of indirect tax collection activities. By collecting the desired amount of revenue, the country's tax-GDP ratio will increase, investment will increase through the expansion of trade and commerce, and the country's economic progress will accelerate.

The decisions were made in the secretarial committee meeting on May 25, led by Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid.

The meeting approved the new custom house and VAT commissionarate and approved the created posts, and the minutes of the meeting were issued on Jun 4.