How to read an NBR SRO number

An SRO (Statutory Regulatory Order) is the instrument the National Board of Revenue uses to change rates, exemptions, procedures and forms under the VAT, customs and income-tax laws. The number printed on it is more informative than it looks.

Two real examples

On the official NBR lists accessed on 12 October 2026, the newest VAT SRO was shown as SRO No-148-Ain/2026/353-Mushak, dated 11 June 2026, and the newest income-tax SRO as S.R.O No 213-Ain/Aykor-4/2026, also dated 11 June 2026.

Reading the parts

• Serial (148, 213): the running number of the SRO within the calendar year. Serials run across government, not per ministry, which is why a VAT SRO and an income-tax SRO issued on the same day carry very different numbers. From the two examples above you can infer that at least 213 SROs had been issued government-wide by 11 June 2026. That is an inference from numbering, not an official count.
• Ain (আইন): marks the instrument as made under an Act.
• Year (2026): the calendar year of issue. It is not the fiscal year, which matters in June when the budget SROs for FY2026-27 carry the year 2026.
• Wing suffix (353-Mushak, Aykor-4): identifies the NBR wing and its internal series. "Mushak" (মূসক) is VAT; "Aykor" (আয়কর) is income tax; customs SROs carry their own suffix.

Why it matters in practice

• Two documents with the same serial but different years are unrelated.
• An amending SRO usually names the SRO it amends in its first paragraph. Record both numbers, because the later one may itself be amended within weeks.
• The listing date on nbr.gov.bd is the date printed on the SRO, which is not always the date the PDF appeared online and not necessarily the effective date.

What RuleScan AI stores

For each SRO we keep the number exactly as printed (as the external reference), the listing date with its confidence, the official PDF URL, the SHA-256 of the file and every later version. The brief quotes the operative sentence rather than paraphrasing it.