In an unusual turn of events, the National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) Income Tax Division revenue review meeting held virtually on Sunday, June 15, 2025, featured a list of dubious participant IDs, including one claiming to be US billionaire Elon Musk and another representing the Tejgaon Egg Traders Association.

Screenshots obtained by Jago News revealed the presence of these and other fictitious IDs, raising questions about the meeting’s integrity.

An NBR official, speaking anonymously to Jago News, admitted that the inclusion of fake IDs was a deliberate attempt to inflate the appearance of attendance.

“The majority of the over 400 participants were fake and have no connection to the Income Tax Department,” the official disclosed.

Other IDs included names of Samsung phone models, random years, and arbitrary numbers, none of which corresponded to real individuals or entities.

The official linked this tactic to internal discontent within the NBR.

Last month, NBR officials and employees staged protests with four demands, including the cancellation of a controversial ordinance.

Although the government assured action, the NBR chairman’s position remained unchanged, leading to a decision among some officials to adopt a non-cooperative stance.

“This was done to show more presence on Zoom,” the official explained, noting that while the chairman attended commissioner meetings in Dhaka in person, dissatisfaction persists at the field level.

Efforts to contact the NBR chairman for comment were unsuccessful.

NBR Public Relations Officer Md Al-Amin Sheikh told Jago News, “I am unaware of this issue and cannot comment.”

The meeting reviewed income tax collection for the 2024-25 fiscal year up to May.

The NBR set a target of Tk 1,39,805 crore for the first 11 months but collected only Tk 1,05,196 crore, achieving a growth rate of just 4.30 per cent compared to the previous year.

In May alone, Tk 10,130 crore was collected, reflecting a shortfall in meeting the fiscal year’s ambitious targets.