ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a federal cabinet meeting for today (Wednesday) to discuss important issues such as the appointment of a new chairman for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), according to sources.
Briefings to the cabinet on the retirement directory, security situations, and energy-related issues are also on the four-point agenda.
Previously, a summary was moved to the federal cabinet to replace FBR Chairman Dr. Muhammad Ashfaque with Asim Ahmed, an Inland Revenue Service (IRS) officer of Grade 21.
“Yes, a summary will be presented to the federal cabinet, which will meet on Wednesday (today) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif,” top official sources confirmed to the publication on Tuesday.
The summary has been changed to name the FBR chairman for a period of 120 days. Nadeem Rizvi and Tariq Huda are two other names mentioned in the summary.
According to the summary, the government will appoint a new chairman for a period of 120 days; however, it is unclear whether the new chairman will be given the responsibility of the secretary of the Revenue Division.
In 2021, Asim Ahmed served as the FBR chairman for a few months before being replaced following a data-hacking incident at the FBR. On the list of IRS officers’ seniority, he is number three.
Tariq Huda, a member of Customs, was previously considered for the FBR’s top position, but after his name was linked to a vehicle scandal, he was likely dropped from the list of candidates for the coveted position.
The outgoing FBR chairman was 17th on the IRS’s seniority list, and he appointed junior officers to key positions during his tenure. He had also appointed field officers with a shady track record to major urban centers. Subordinate officers were irritated by his single-track approach.
In August 2021, Dr. Ashfaque took over as chairman of the FBR, succeeding Asim Ahmed.
The new FBR chairman will now face a difficult task in achieving an ambitious tax collection target of Rs6.1 trillion for the current fiscal year. The FBR’s collection was good in the first nine months when imports were increasing, but now that imports are being compressed, the FBR will have to work extra hard to meet its tax collection target for the current fiscal year.
