Staff Correspondent:

No positive outcome can be achieved by only splitting the systematic structure of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) without ensuring accountability among its officials and employees.

NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan made the remarks while addressing a programme held at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) in Dhaka on Saturday.

“We lag behind many countries in the world in tax education, but we are working to include tax-related topics in textbooks,” he said.

Claiming that the current audit system creates an atmosphere of fear in the country, he said that technological inclusion is needed to make the overall tax system easier.

About the mismanagement in the financial sector, he said that the money laundering through over- and under-invoicing is a result of the failure of both banks and customs.

He said there are many software and data agencies in the country through which the international market price of any product can easily be verified.

The banks could have checked the value of goods by comparing the amount for which LCs are being opened with the international market price, he said.

He was speaking at a debate programme, titled “Achieving Expected Revenue Collection is Possible Through Reforms in Tax Management”, organised by Debate for Democracy.