12 FBR officials axed from key roles ahead of budget preparation

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has begun taking punitive actions against top officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for their non-compliance attitude just before the budget preparation exercise for the fiscal year 2024-25.

A notification stated that the FBR has placed 12 officers of grades 22 and 21 from the Inland Revenue Service and Customs under the admin pool.

The FBR transferred almost all key members, including the member Inland Revenue (Policy) and member Customs (Operations), to the admin pool of the board.

The FBR said that it will issue more notifications of transfers and postings of BS-20 and BS-19 officers after reshuffling senior officials in grades 22 and 21.

According to a notification issued by the FBR on Friday, the following 13 key Members/Director Generals of the Board and two Chief Commissioners of Inland Revenue have been transferred as Members (Admin Pool), Federal Board of Revenue (Hq), Islamabad: Mukarram Jah Ansari (Pakistan Customs Service/BS-22), Member, (Legal & Accounting-Customs) FBR (Hq), Islamabad;  Shah Bano G.M Khan (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Director General, (IOCO) FBR (Hq), Islamabad; Dr Fareed Iqbal Qureshi (Pakistan Customs Service/BS-21), Member, (Customs Operations) FBR (Hq), Islamabad; Tariq Mustafa Khan (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Member, (Accounting) FBR (Hq), Islamabad; Ahmad Rauf (Pakistan Customs Service/BS-21), Director General, Directorate General of Law & Prosecution, Islamabad; Mirza Mubashir Baig (Pakistan Customs Service/BS-21), Director General, Directorate General of Customs Valuation, Karachi; Hyder Ali Dharejo (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Chief Commissioner, Regional Tax Office I, Karachi; Muhammad Azam Sheikh (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Director General, Directorate General of Internal Audit (Inland Revenue), Islamabad; Muhammad Saleem (Pakistan Customs Service/BS-21), Chief Collector, Chief Collector of Customs, Appraisement (South), Custom House, Karachi; Abdul Wahid Uqaily (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Chief Commissioner, Regional Tax Office II, Karachi; Afaque Ahmed Qureshi (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Member, (IR-Policy) FBR (Hq), Islamabad; Khurshid Ahmad Khan Marwat (Inland Revenue Service/BS-21), Chief Commissioner, Regional Tax Office, Islamabad.

Also read: CCLC likely abolish commissioner appeal positions in FBR

Sources said that the FBR also transferred Asim Majid Khan, a BS-21 officer of the Inland Revenue Service, presently posted as Member (Legal-IR), and posted as Member (Admin Pool), FBR.

Similarly, Asim Majid has been transferred due to a complaint from a top multilateral tobacco company as their issue was pending in the field office of FBR.

Earlier, the FBR had also suspended Chief Commissioner LTU Yousif Hyder Shielf on the same charges, and reports suggested that the government will also suspend some other IRS officials on a PTC-related case.

Meanwhile, the prime minister on Friday also constituted another inquiry team under the chair of the Secretary of Finance, who will fix responsibility on officers who failed to implement the Track and Trace System in four notified sectors.

According to the sources, the prime minister has shown dissatisfaction over the Tariq Bajwa-led committee, and the five-member committee failed to identify officers.

McKinsey picked for FRB digitisation project

Meanwhile, the finance minister-led committee has approved the proposal from McKinsey and Company, a globally renowned consulting firm, for the digitisation of the FBR.

According to Finance Division, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a meeting of the steering committee on the digitisation of the FBR.

The meeting was attended by key stakeholders including the FBR Chairman, CEO Karandaaz Waqas ul Hasan, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Country Lead Syed Ali Mahmood and representatives from FBR.

The committee reviewed the progress made so far in the digitisation of FBR’s operations and explored the avenues to further enhance the efficiency and transparency of the tax administration.

The finance minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to collaborate with the private sector and all relevant stakeholders in propelling Pakistan towards a modernised taxation framework.

He underscored that digitisation of FBR was not only crucial for improving tax collection and and administration but also for promoting sustained economic growth.

During the meeting, the committee approved the proposal from McKinsey and Company for the digitisation of the FBR.

Director DFS Karandaaz Sharjeel Murtaza briefed the committee on the procurement process, which involved comprehensive technical evaluation by an approved committee comprising senior officials from FBR and technical experts from Karandaaz Pakistan.

McKinsey and Company emerged as the top bidder after a thorough evaluation of technical and financial aspects.

The negotiated full and final proposal from McKinsey and Company was presented to the committee, leading to the approval for contracting McKinsey and Company and commencing the project.