National tax taskforce formed to boost tax-to-GDP ratio

In a bid to make necessary reforms to boost Bangladesh’s tax-to-GDP ratio, the government has formed a nine-strong national taskforce. According to a notification issued on Monday by the Internal Resources Division (IRD), the taskforce will be headed by Zaidi Sattar, chairman of the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh. The taskforce has been asked to submit its final report to the finance advisor by Jan 31. The move comes shortly after the IRD dissolved the advisory committee on NBR reform last week, a day after concerns were raised that splitting the National Board of Revenue (NBR) into two entities could create a “dangerous” situation for the country. Before the committee’s dissolution, one of its members had criticised the government’s ordinance...