Khairuzzaman Chowdhury

On 9 September 2003, Chowdhury was appointed the chairman of the National Board of Revenue replacing Shoaib Ahmed.^[6][7] He previously served as the secretary of the Ministry of Food.^[7] He increased tax revenue collection during his term as chairman.^[8] He was the first person to be appointed chairman of the National Board of Revenue on a contractual basis.^[9] He launched operations against black money after the amnesty period announced by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government ended.^[10] He proposed anti-dumping laws to protect domestic industries.^[11] Chowdhury was the chairman of the National Board of Revenue till 6 July 2006.^[6] Partex Group vice chairman Aziz AI Kaiser Tito gifted him a Rolex which he deposited with the government treasury and expressed embarrassment at the expensive gift.^[12] Md. Abdul Karim replaced him as the chairman of the National Board of Revenue.^[13]

Chowdhury was appointed the first Tax Ombudsman of Bangladesh in 2006.^[14][15] He was given the rank and privilege of a judge of the Bangladesh High Court.^[16] The office was created after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led government passed the Tax Ombudsman Act, 2005 after being proposed by M. Saifur Rahman, Minister of Finance.^[3] He submitted his first report in April 2007 to President Iajuddin Ahmed at the Bangabhaban.^[17] National Board of Revenue ordered its staff to cooperate with Chowdhury in 2008 to improve services which had been poorly received in 2007.^[18][19]

In September 2010, Chowdhury's term as the Tax Ombudsman ended and the Awami League government abolished the office through the Tax Ombudsman (Abolition) Bill-2010.^[3][20] The decision to abolish the office was criticized by the media and civil society.^[3]