ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Asad Umar has made major reshuffle in the Federal Board of Revenue due to low performance of FBR to generate the revenue as per expectations of the PTI-led government.
The FBR chairman would also be replaced by the Finance Minister on orders of PM Imran Khan.
According to the notification, Dr Muhamamd Iqbal, a BS-21 officer of Inland Revenue presently posted in FBR HQs, is transferred and posted as Senior Joint Secretary, Industries and Production under Section 10 of Civil Servants Act, 1973 with immediate effect. He is believed to have a spotless tenure within the FBR but was never empowered enough to steer FBR to success.
Habibullah Khan, a grade 21 officer of Inland Revenue Service presently working at FBR, is transferred and posted as Senior Joint Secretary, Science and Technology Division under Section 10 of Civil Servants Act, 1973 with immediate effect.
Khwaja Adnan Zahir, a grade 21 officer of Inland Revenue Service presently working at FBR, is transferred and posted as Director General, Wafaqi Mohtasib Lahore by upgrading the post to BS-21 as personal to the officer under Section 10 of Civil Servants Act, 1973 with immediate effect.
Tasneem Rehman, a grade 22 officer of Inland Revenue Service presently working at FBR, is transferred and posted as Director General, Pakistan Institute of Trade & Development (PITAD) by upgrading the post to BS-22 as personal to the officer under Section 10 of Civil Servants Act, 1973 with immediate effect.
Nadeem Dar, a grade 22 officer of Inland Revenue Service presently working at FBR, is transferred and posted as Member, Federal Land Commission by upgrading the post to BS-22 as personal to the officer under Section 10 of Civil Servants Act, 1973 with immediate effect.
Sources said it is also expected that the Finance Minister would also replace the FBR Chairman Jehanzaib Khan in next few days on direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan as he is not happy with his performance. The Board could not achieve its 1Q revenue collection target and faced a shortfall of Rs 60 billion, underscoring the need for a complete but urgent revamp of the tax machinery. In addition to disappointing collection results, income tax return filing also fell short of expectations. The FBR received less than 350,000 returns, as against 1.4 million received in the preceding year.
During the first quarter of the current financial year, the FBR recorded a provisional net revenue collection of over Rs836 billion as against Rs766 billion collected during the same period of the previous fiscal year, according to an official handout issued by the FBR.
Since the government has proposed new tax measures in the mini-budget, it did not expect any shortfall in the remaining nine months of the fiscal year.
