Ahsan Habib appointed full-time NBR chairman

Ahsan Habib has been appointed chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), replacing his role as acting chairman. He will also serve as secretary of the Internal Resources Division (IRD) under a 10 per cent quota of the President.

The Public Administration Ministry announced the appointment in a notification on Monday.

The notification said the order had been issued in the public interest and would take effect immediately. It also said Habib would have to return to his own cadre before retirement.

Ahsan Habib, an officer of the 15th batch of the income tax cadre, was appointed acting NBR chairman on 29 June. He replaced Abdur Rahman Khan.

His appointment marks the first time an NBR official has been appointed chairman from within the revenue authority.

After the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus took office in August 2024, changes were made to the country's tax administration.

In September that year, 40 tax commissioners were transferred at the same time, starting with the Central Intelligence Cell (CIC). The move was seen as unusual in the history of the NBR.

As part of the changes, Khairul Islam, then director general of the CIC, was transferred to the Large Taxpayer Unit. Ahsan Habib, who was then commissioner of Dhaka Tax Zone-15, took over as head of the CIC.

Ahsan came into the spotlight while serving in the tax administration. He worked on investigations into alleged tax evasion and called for bank account details of families said to have close links with the Awami League government.