FBR officers want chairman from IRS, Customs Group

ISLAMABAD: The FBR officers have proposed to the government that their chairman should be appointed from the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) and Customs groups.

There has been increasing resentment within the FBR ranks that the chairman has been appointed from outside the FBR ranks and in recent history either the chairman belonged to the DMG group or hired on contract from the private sector.

On organization structure, the FBR officers have proposed to the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Institutional Reforms and Austerity that BS-22 officers [of FBR] are promoted on the basis of available posts. These officers can no more be posted in other ministries since an amendment made to the rules last year.

On the contrary, any person can be posted as chairman FBR being a selection post. It is proposed that BS-22 officers of FBR may also be posted as heads of ministries relevant to the working of IRS on a par with other service groups.

“Chairman FBR must be from the IRS & Customs Services,” the FBR officers proposed in writing to the government. They argued that the organisation needs to be restructured along the territorial lines to cater to unified tax profiles of a taxpayer which will facilitate simplification of tax law and process.

The organogram proposed has not taken into account the issues faced by the field formation leading to disconnect between policy and implementation. This growing gap would jeopardize revenue collection, they further stated.