Dhaka, April 10 -- Much has been said about value added tax (VAT) reform in Bangladesh, and considerable work has also been undertaken so far. However, the ultimate result is that our tax-GDP ratio remains one of the lowest in the world. This demonstrates that the reform measures were not properly aligned with field-level realities. Having worked in Bangladesh's VAT management system for more than 30 years, I have come to understand that less important issues are discussed more, and less important initiatives are started. These initiatives neither progress well nor conclude effectively. Introduction of VAT software, Electronic Cash Registrar (ECR), Electronic Fiscal Devise (EFD), policy-implementation separation efforts are the examples. ...