Officers and employees of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) continued their work abstention on Thursday, marking the second day of a three-day protest called by the NBR Reform Unity Council—a platform representing officials from the Customs, VAT, and Income Tax wings.

The work abstention, which began at 10 am, is scheduled to continue until 3 pm Thursday. It will resume at the same time on Saturday.

The protest stems from the government’s recent decision to restructure the NBR by splitting it into two divisions—Revenue Policy Division and Revenue Management Division—without, according to protesters, incorporating the recommendations of the NBR Reform Committee.

On the second day, most officials and employees symbolically laid down their pens to demonstrate their participation in the protest.

NBR personnel have been protesting for weeks, demanding the removal of provisions in the new law that allow administrative cadre officers to be appointed to key positions under the restructured framework.

The controversial ordinance was reportedly published late Monday night. Under the new ordinance, the government may appoint any qualified government officer as secretary or senior secretary of the two newly formed divisions.

The ordinance also places the Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal and the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal under the jurisdiction of the Revenue Policy Division of the Finance Ministry.

The interim government, led by Professor Muhammad Yunus, recently approved the change. It allows posts within the two divisions to be filled by professionals with expertise in income tax, VAT, customs, economics, business administration, research and statistics, administration, audit and accounting, and legal affairs.

The new system argues that separating policy formulation from revenue collection management will enhance transparency, accountability, and efficiency within the revenue system. It also states that administrative posts within the Revenue Management Division will be staffed by officers from the Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration) cadre and by existing employees of the Revenue Management Department.

The NBR Reform Committee was formed on October 9 last year, comprising former NBR chairmen Muhammad Abdul Mazid and Nasiruddin Ahmed, along with former members Delwar Hossain and Aminur Rahman.