New FBR Chairman Seeks Asset Details of Over 2,000 Tax Officers

Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Rashid Mahmood Langrial has sought asset details of all Grade-17 to 22 officers of the Inland Revenue Service and Pakistan Customs Service. Sources told ProPakistani that tax authorities have directed the FBR Member Administration to furnish asset details of all IRS and customs officers. Presently, the workforce of the FBR comprises over 2,000 employees in BS-17 to BS-22 with 1,275 officials in the Inland Revenue Service and around 600 officials in the Pakistan Customs Service. Sources stated that the officers of the Inland Revenue Service and Customs submit the details of their assets along with income tax returns every year. On the other hand, the officers of other cadres of civil services rarely file income tax returns as well as asset details with the Establishment Division despite the fact the human resource department issues directions to all departments at the start of every fiscal year. On the other hand, the FBR has not audited the assets of civil servants for the past five years, attributing this to capacity issues within the tax department. It is worth noting that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also been urging Pakistan to publicly disclose the assets of civil servants.