FBR rejects Imran’s claim about fixing PM’s tax record

FBR terms PTI chief’s allegations speculative and unsubstantiated

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s claim that two senior taxmen ‘fixed’ tax record of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday said the premier’s original tax record was secure.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s original tax record is secure,” said the FBR in a strong-worded press release, which also defended the two officials, one of which, Dr Irshad,  is recently promoted to grade-22 and is tipped as a candidate for the post of the FBR chairman.



“Imran Khan’s allegation that two senior taxmen fixed the tax record of Prime Minister Nawaz is unfounded,” said the official handout. “The allegations are strongly denied as being mere speculative and unsubstantiated”.

The FBR employees feel ‘disheartened’ and ‘demoralised’ after Imran Khan leveled ‘baseless allegation’, said the FBR, which also appealed to the leader of the country’s third largest political party to avoid making the bureaucrats controversial.

“It would be in the best national interest if such allegations are retracted and the FBR is allowed to continue performing its functions and duties in a non-partisan manner,” the statement added.



The issue of tampering with the tax record of the Sharif family first surfaced in April this year when the FBR’s audit unit one, zone-III of the Regional Tax Office in Lahore sent a tax notice to the PM Nawaz.  The FBR field office sent the notice just five days after the Panama Papers disclosed that the Sharif family owned offshore companies.

Sources said the tax authorities had made photocopies of the tax record of the Sharif family. However, Dr Irsahd was not among those who facilitated this process, they added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18^th, 2016.