FBR calls taxmen protest peaceful

Tax officers raise voice against discrimination in pay as compared to other govt officials

ISLAMABAD:

As more taxmen seek about two-month leave at a crunch time in protest against low wages and discrimination, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday said that the protest remains peaceful and is only limited to “social media”.

The protest began from Sargodha Regional Tax Office (RTO) a day ago and spread to the FBR’s headquarters and tax offices in other parts of the country with Lahore – the second largest revenue-spinning city – being the most affected.

Tax officers, mostly serving in pay scales of 17 and 18, have started drafting leave applications for the period from May 8 to June 30, according to a number of applications seen by The Express Tribune.

The officers have raised their voice against discrimination as compared to other civil service groups, a situation that has aggravated due to a nearly six-decade high inflation and the lack of empathy shown by the top FBR management.

Instead of presenting their case to the prime minister and the federal cabinet, the FBR management tried a few months ago to soothe the nerves by promising to establish a common fund with Re1 per invoice contribution by the taxpayers.

Taxmen claimed that at least 150 to 200 officers would go on leave with effect from May 8 if the FBR management and the government did not pay any heed to their plight.

The collective leave applications, or unwillingness to perform duties, may create more problems for the FBR, which has already suffered a revenue shortfall of Rs380 billion in the first 10 months of current fiscal year.

When contacted, FBR spokesman Afaque Qureshi remarked “it is a symbolic peaceful protest (and) only on social media as they are pressing for increase in salaries.”

But one of the employees told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity that the situation could turn ugly if the FBR did not pay any attention.

Qureshi appeared hopeful, saying “they are responsible officers and committed to the national cause. They always come up to the call of duty.”

Responding to a question, the FBR spokesman said that the Revenue Division secretary, who happened to be the FBR chairman, was not getting any executive allowance neither members of the Revenue Division were receiving the allowance.

FBR’s employees had been denied a special allowance equal to 150% of the basic salary of government officers of Grade 17 and above, approved by the federal cabinet, on the pretext of a pre-existing special allowance.

However, the FBR’s performance allowance has remained frozen since 2015 and it has been reduced to effectively 20-30% of the basic pay.

Contrary to this, employees of other departments are benefitting from special allowances, which include the Supreme Court, parliament, presidency, armed forces, Prime Minister’s Office, officers serving in federal secretariat, National Accountability Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency, to name a few.

The reason for the leave is the extremely low salary and the skyrocketing inflation, said a leave application of a Grade-18 officer.

“I have been living hand to mouth and the low salary barely fulfills the basic needs of my family, which is a cause of continuous financial stress and mental health issues for me,” he wrote.

Applicants also mentioned the promise of “top leadership (about) the implementation of Common Pool Fund (CPF) from March 1, 2023 but that promise too has not been fulfilled to date”.

A Grade-17 officer of the FBR gets a gross monthly salary of Rs98,000 and net salary of Rs84,000, which is not enough at a time of 36.4% overall inflation and 52.2% food inflation.

A Grade-18 officer gets Rs114,000 in salary and after paying taxes, the take-home pay is Rs96,000 a month.

FBR officials close to the chairman revealed that the chairman had taken up the discrimination in salary structure with the PM Office.

The PM Office said that the 150% executive allowance should be given to employees serving in the FBR’s headquarters by excluding field formations. But the FBR management did not accept the offer.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2023.

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