A parliamentary watchdog body has called for expediting the National Board of Revenue (NBR) automation to curb corruption, cut business costs and harassment, and boost government revenue.
The call came Sunday from the second meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Finance with committee chairman Mushfiqur Rahman MP in the chair.
The committee stressed the need for reducing reliance on physical contact in government services as part of efforts to prevent corruption and introduce more digital and automated systems.
“Simply identifying or punishing individuals involved in corruption would not be enough. Rather, the processes and systems through which corruption takes place must be changed or eliminated,” the panel noted.
The meeting observed that greater automation would help reduce costs and harassment for businesses, improve the business environment and increase government revenue.
Emphasis was placed on making the accounting-and financial-reporting system more transparent, modern and effective. Greater accountability in the system would help improve efficiency and effectiveness, it was noted.
The NBR made a detailed presentation on its capacity to meet government expenditure, measures taken to narrow the tax-to-GDP gap, and the assessment of its organisational structure and future course of action.
Committee members took part in discussions on the issues presented.
At the beginning of the meeting, the minutes of the committee’s first meeting were confirmed.
Present at the meet among others were committee members Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Chief Whip Md Nurul Islam Moni, Md Jalal Uddin, Moinul Islam Khan, Md Shahadat Hossain, Md Saiful Alam, Syed Zainul Abedin and Md Abul Hasnat.
The meeting was also attended by the NBR’s First Secretary for Tax Policy, the Secretary of the Parliament Secretariat, the Secretaries of the Finance Division, Financial Institutions Division and Economic Relations Division (ERD), the NBR chairman and members, senior officials and relevant officials of the Parliament Secretariat.
Source: https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/committee-wants-quick-nbr-automation-to-curb-corruption
