14 tax officials suspended for tearing up transfer orders

The government has suspended fourteen more tax officials for publicly tearing up their transfer orders.

The Internal Resources Division (IRD) issued separate suspension orders against them on Tuesday, citing gross misconduct.

Those who have been suspended are – Additional Commissioner of VAT Audit, Intelligence and Investigation Directorate Hasan Muhammad Tarek Rikabdar; Additional Tax Commissioner of Dhaka Tax Zone-8 Mirza Ashiq Rana; Deputy Project Director of the National Single Window Project Sifat-e-Mariam; Second Secretary of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Shahadat Jamil; Joint Tax Commissioner of Dhaka Tax Zone-2 Masuma Khatun; Joint Tax Commissioner of Tax Zone-15 Murad Ahmed; Morshed Uddin Khan of Kushtia Tax Zone; Joint Tax Commissioner of Noakhali Tax Zone Monalisa Shahreen Sushmita; Joint Tax Commissioner of Cox’s Bazar Tax Zone Ashraful Alam Pradhan; Deputy Tax Commissioner of Khulna Tax Zone Shihabul Islam; Deputy Tax Commissioner of Rangpur Tax Zone Nusrat Jahan; Deputy Tax Commissioner of Cumilla Tax Zone Imam Touhid Hasan; Revenue Officer of Khulna Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate Shafiul Bashar; and Revenue Officer of Dhaka North Customs Bond Commissionerate Sabuj Mia.

According to NBR sources, they all were involved in last month’s protests within the NBR, with some taking leadership roles in the movement.

The suspension orders noted that the officials acted defiantly by tearing up the 22 June transfer notices in public. Following a departmental investigation, they have been made officers on special duty and later suspended. During this period, they will receive allowances as per government rules.

The suspension notices were signed by Abdur Rahman Khan, secretary of the IRD and chairman of NBR.

Last month, NBR officials and employees went on strike nationwide on 28 and 29 June, demanding what they termed “rational reforms” in the revenue sector. The protests disrupted work across the country and were eventually called off following mediation by business leaders.

Now, the government is taking disciplinary action. So far, three NBR members and one commissioner have been sent into forced retirement. The commissioner of Chattogram Customs House was suspended for work stoppage.

Besides, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched investigations against 16 officials, most of whom were linked to the protests.