Pakistan's top bureaucracy has appreciated the services of outgoing Central Board of Revenue (CBR) Chairman Riaz Ahmed Malik in successfully initiating the process of reforms, which helped in re-organisation of the board.
They said that the "Champion of reform", through his dynamic leadership has improved the functions of the CBR, which has led the CBR to achieve more revenue collection.
The CBR arranged an impressive farewell ceremony for Riaz Malik here on Tuesday, which was attended by a large number of senior bureaucrats, economic managers and income tax, customs and sales tax officials.
Among the prominent speakers were Establishment Secretary Javed Hasan Ali, CBR Member Direct Taxes Vakil Ahmed Khan, Director General Intelligence and Investigation Major General Usman Ali Shah (Retd), Member, Tax Policy and Reforms M.S. Lal, Member Human Resource Management (HRM) Zafar Aziz Osmani, Member Central Excise Naseer Ahmed, Member Administration Salman Nabi and team leader, tax consultant Maxwell Stamps, John Dunffield.
All these speakers dwelt upon the achievements of Malik during his three-year tenure as CBR chairman, saying that the CBR has made maximum progress during his tenure.
Addressing the jam-packed National Library auditorium, Riaz Malik said that fundamental changes within the tax machinery through reforms/re-engineering process has moved the CBR in the right direction taking into account the globalisation and developments at the international levels.
He said that home-grown tax reform strategy has enabled the tax authorities to successfully surpass the target of Rs 510 billion set for the current financial year.
The credit goes not only to the reform team, but the entire tax machinery, including staff, which is the main contributor in achieving the revenue targets.
Since 1988, the CBR has seen 15 chairmen in 15 years, including himself who took over on July 3, 2001.
He said that when he took the charge of chairman, the CBR was an organisation lacking sense of co-ordination with a status quo situation. However, we tried out level best to implement the reforms which resulted in meeting the revenue targets along with introducing fundamental re-engineering of processes in income tax and customs with a view to substantially reduce evasion, harassment and corruption.
The present re-engineered Model Tax Office would take some years to replicate across the country, he said.
For the first time, the CBR used information technology (IT) to compile comprehensive data and automation in the departments. Well thought out and all-encompassing automation initiatives allowed to reaping benefits of the re-engineering process, Malik said.
He said that the CBR has started restructuring of the tax machinery taking into account important changes taking place at the global level after the event of 9/11.
The CBR focussed attention on various human resource initiatives, including initial implementation of better compensation for tax officials and enhancement of skills of the workforce through emphasising on training.
Speaking on the occasion, Establishment Secretary Javed Hasan Ali said that instead of being comfortable with status quo, Malik moved the organisation towards reforms bringing positive changes in the CBR.
He said that we have seen some remarkable changes within the CBR during the last three years.
Member Direct Taxes Vakil Ahmed Khan said that it would be difficult to identify achievements of Malik because he has made enormous achievements.
Vakil said that Malik has given me full authority to take decisions on the income tax side, which is a very bold step taken by him as a CBR chairman.
He said that wheels of reforms started moving owing to the sole efforts of Malik, who gave a roadmap to the tax machinery, which would continue in future for the facilitation of taxpayers.
Vakil said, "A few days back, we have the impression that CBR may get guidance from him for another one year or so. However, the government has to take new decision."
He said that Malik has taken timely decisions for revamping the tax machinery on modern lines.
CBR Member Policy and Tax Reforms M.S. Lal said that he was the source of inspiration for the reform team as Malik has the ability to take most decisive decisions during the ongoing restructuring drive.
The CBR chairman selected a very dedicated specialised team of tax officials, which helped in smooth implementation of reform agenda.
Lal said that the CBR chairman has the ability to effectively interact with the international donor agencies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, including foreign tax consultants. This successfully helped in presenting Pakistan's assistance case before the donors.
Member Human Resource Zafar Aziz Osmani highlighted Malik's role in introducing changes on the human resource side.
He said that dedication of Malik was evident from the fact that he managed to attend human resource workshops throughout the day during Ramazan.
During his tenure, Human Resource Department has taken several initiatives, including internal job processing, deputation of tax officials on specialised positions and given job descriptions to thousands of the CBR employees belonging to different cadres.
Osmani said it was only due to the reform initiative that the international donors now think Pakistan as an emerging country where reforms were under process.
John Dunffield, team leader, Maxwell Stamps, said that the dedication of Riaz Malik to reforms has not only given us a roadmap, but also assisted us in understanding issues pertaining to tax environment of Pakistan.
Director General Intelligence and Investigation Major General Usman Ali Shah (Retd) said that he was the most outstanding leader of the CBR, who was a good officer as well as human being, who worked for the betterment of the department.
"He was efficient in identifying problems within the tax machinery and resolving the issue in consultation with all the stakeholders," he said.
Shah said that the toughest assignment in the bureaucracy was the post of CBR chairman. However, Malik's performance helped in improving economic indicators.
Member Administration Salman Nabi said that this was for the first time in the history of the CBR that not a single promotion case was delayed during his tenure.
Member Central Excise Naseer Ahmed was of the view that the CBR was facing problems like discrepancy in the figures and shortfall in tax collection in the past. These problems were successfully overcome owing to the efforts of Riaz Malik.
Earlier, the CBR chairman separately addressed the gathering of the board staff at the CBR Headquarters.
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