Cabinet to Take up Summary Regarding FBR Restructuring on Monday

The Federal Cabinet will take up the summary regarding the restructuring of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on coming Monday. Sources told ProPakistani that the inter-ministerial committee formed to deliberate on the FBR restructuring has finalized its recommendations. Sources said that the committee under the chair of caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar discussed in detail the proposed restructuring of FBR in two meetings including the concerns raised by top management of FBR on the inclusion of private professionals in the oversight board. Sources said that the minister has addressed the concerns of officers of the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) and has also incorporated related recommendations in the summary. Recently, a few officers of the IRS also asked the Chief Election Commissioner to take notice of illegal and untimely action on FBR restructuring and overhaul of FBR. The IRS officers are of the view that the caretaker setup has no mandate to take major statutory changes. They believe that the establishment of an oversight board under the restructuring plan will open up avenues for those with vested interests. They further said that making a decision, just before the general elections, will have far-reaching implications. Sources said that Customs officers do not have issues on the proposed oversight board. Sources further said that the caretaker setup can assign the withholding agent role to Pakistan Customs and if this happens then Pakistan Customs will collect withholding tax for IRS and transfer the tax receipts to the income tax side. Sources said that the federal cabinet is likely to approve the inter-ministerial recommendations during its upcoming meeting on Monday.