Whistleblower policy made part of tax laws; Customs excluded

KARACHI: The parliament has approved a policy to spy the activities of Inland Revenue officials and reporting about the practices of corruption, misconduct and inefficiency.
The government made part the whistleblower policy recommended by Tax Reform Commission (TRC) – constituted by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar - which was subsequently approved by the National Assembly.
The sources said that as per the bill passed by the National Assembly, the whistleblower policy made part of all three relevant laws of Inland Revenue, except the customs side of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
When contacted, TRC Chairman Masood Naqvi said that the whistleblower scheme was suggested for all the laws, including for officials of Pakistan Customs.
Sources in the FBR said that the government deliberately spared the customs officials, despite the truth that the department had a history of corruption, misconduct, and inefficiency.
Under the new law, the FBR will reward whistleblowers in cases of concealment or evasion of tax, tax fraud, corruption, misconduct or for providing credible information to such detection of tax fraud.
The law has been framed on the detailed presentation made by the TRC, under which the commission divided the whistleblower policy both internally and externally.
“Internal whistleblowers are the persons who reports illegal practices or misconduct to superior, subordinate or fellow employee within the organisation. Under these circumstances, people believe or accept to stop the unaccepted behaviour within the organisation and take the initiative to be a whistleblower so that eradication of such malpractices can take place,” according to the TRC interim report presented to the finance ministry.
“External whistleblowers are usually the affected persons who report about the misconduct of a governmental employee to his/her own department or to outside entities. These outsiders may be lawyers, the media, law enforcement, or watchdog agencies,” the report added.
The TRC report recommended that all FBR employees should observe high standards of business and personal duties and responsibilities. They must practice honesty and integrity in fulfilling their responsibilities and comply with all applicable laws, regulations, policies and instructions issued from time to time. The TRC also recommended that an employee who knows, believes, or suspects that any unethical, illegal, fraudulent, or unauthorised activities, including any violations of the FBR’s Code of Conduct, are being carried out in any office of the FBR; it is his duty to report such violations or suspected violations in accordance with the policy. “Failure to report such violations will be viewed as a serious disciplinary offense,” the report said.
The TRC also recommended measures to protect the reporting employees. It said that employees who in good faith report a violation or suspected violation will be fully protected against any harassment, retaliation, or adverse employment consequences. Moreover, any superior officer who retaliates against or victimises such employees will be subject to disciplinary action. The report said that the policy should be adopted binding the authorities to promptly investigate on an information and take appropriate corrective action.