FBR top officers shuffled again

ISLAMABAD:

The top hierarchy of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), both at headquarters and field formations, has been shaken up -a bunch of 24 officers having both good and bad reputation in terms of their ability to deliver and professional integrity.

The FBR on Friday notified transfers and postings of 14 grade 21 and 10 grade 20 officers as new heads of field formations and members of the FBR. Some of the people have been sidelined, including former chairman Asim Ahmad who has not been given any assignment despite still being in service of the government.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin had entrusted newly-appointed FBR chairman Dr Mohammad Ashfaq Ahmad to make his own team aimed at giving him full authority along with the responsibility.

The heads of about a dozen field formations have been changed while almost all important members at the FBR headquarters have been reshuffled, giving a new face to the FBR. But some of these people will have to pass the test of performance and integrity in due course of time.

Among the key members of the board, only two members at the FBR headquarters have not been changed in the first phase. But one of them is going to be posted in the Benami zone, which will require approval of the federal cabinet.

Ashfaq Ahmad Tunio has this time been appointed as Member Information Technology in place of Sajidullah Siddiqui. Tunio has been brought in at a time when the government is going to make huge procurements of billions of rupees to upgrade the obsolete IT system that became one of the reasons behind hacking of the FBR’s data base.

Siddiqui has been reverted back to the post of the Director General of Retail - a position where he was serving before becoming IT member a few months ago.

Bakhtiar Muhammad who was serving as member administration has been posted as Director General of Internal Audit. In his place, Naseer Butt has been made new member administration. But he will be retiring very soon.

Qaiser Iqbal has been brought in as Member Operations Inland Revenue - who will be responsible for collecting majority of the taxes. The new FBR chairman was earlier serving as member IR Operations.

Iqbal would also look after the charge of Director General International Taxes - a post that requires an independent head given the huge revenue potential. Qaiser Iqbal was earlier serving as Chief Commissioner Large Tax Office, Lahore.

The FBR chairman has picked Afaque Ahmad Qureshi - a grade 20 officer - as new member Inland Revenue Policy. Qureshi will be responsible for three tax laws and will be dealing with the International Monetary Fund.

The incumbent member policy Tarique Chaudhry has gone on leave for three months.

Nazir Ahmad Shoro who was serving as chief commissioner Regional Tax Office (RTO) Karachi has been sidelined. RTO Bahawalpur Chief Commissioner Syed Maroof Gilani, and RTO Quetta Chief Commissioner Dr Lubna Ayub have also been sidelined.

Amir Ali Khan Talpur has been made the new director general of intelligence and investigation. He was earlier serving as chief commissioner RTO-II Karachi. Karamatullah Khan, the incumbent DG of intelligence, has been transferred as chief commissioner Gujranwala. Tariq Mustafa Khan is now chief commissioner of RTO Karachi.

Sardar Ali Khawaja who was serving in Peshawar has been posted as member accounting of the FBR. In his place, Khurshid Marwat has been appointed as new chief commissioner in Peshawar.

Ahmad Shuja Khan has been posted as new chief commissioner Large Tax Office (LTO) Lahore in place of Qaisar Iqbal Khan. Amjad Zubair Tiwana, who has greater expertise in international taxes, has been made new chief commissioner of LTO Islamabad.

Sajid Nazir has been made chief commissioner Gujranwala, Hyder Dharejo chief commissioner RTO-II Karachi and Sajid Nazir Malik chief commissioner Abbottabad. Muhammad Qureshi is posted as chief commissioner Bahwalpur.

Tehmina Aamer has been given the charge of director general broadening of tax base. Qasim Raza Khan has been posted as chief commissioner Corporate Office Lahore and Shahid Mehmood Sheikh chief commissioner Quetta.

Nasir Iqbal Khan is now chief commissioner RTO Lahore.

These changes have been made to achieve this year’s revenue collection target of Rs5.829 trillion. The new chairman also wants fast implementation of the track and trace system and expanding the net of point of sale to connect retailers with the FBR system.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2021.

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