Ansar Javed said the foremost challenge in front of him was Improving the efficiency of the tax machinery and trying to achieve the revenue collection target. PHOTO: AFP
Ansar Javed, a grade-22 officer belonging to the income tax group of the bureaucracy, has been appointed the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). Before his appointment, he was serving as director general training in Lahore.
However, the federal government has appointed him without waiting for a judgment from the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which had suspended his predecessor Arshad Ali Hakeem until the end of this month.
The IHC on Monday suspended the appointment of the former chairman in response to a petition filed by Ashfaq Ahmed, a member of the Inland Revenue Service, who stated that Hakeem was appointed illegally.
The establishment division had moved a summary to Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso to assign the charge of chairman FBR to any one of three senior officials. These were Shahid Rahim Sheikh, Abdul Samad and Ansar Javed, in order of seniority.
Sheikh and Samad are due to retire on April 30 while Javed too will retire on May 15 of this year.The secretary establishment division, Taimur Azmat Usman, was not available for comments. He and Seerat Asgar, the principal secretary to the PM, are said to be responsible for sending a summary to the premier that carries the names of officials who are going to retire within 45 days.
Hakeem was hired on contract after he successfully transformed the National Database and Registration Authority. Despite criticism from various quarters, he tried to broaden the extremely narrow tax base by taking unorthodox steps like offering tax evaders a one-time amnesty.
While talking to The Express Tribune Ansar Javed said the foremost challenge in front of him was improving the efficiency of the tax machinery, bringing in transparency and trying to achieve the revenue collection target.
The FBR is facing a massive revenue shortfall and independent and official assessments show it cannot collect more than Rs2.058 trillion against the annual target of Rs2.381 trillion, which will result in a shortfall of Rs323 billion.
Javed is the eighth chairman of the revenue collection body in less than five years, which highlights the confusion prevailing in the FBR, a body where policies tend to be driven by individuals.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2013.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ