Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani has approved a summary of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for re-employment of Abrar Ahmad Khan, a BS-21 officer of Inland Revenue Service, till December 31, 2011, to ensure speedy implementation of the 'reformed general sales tax' (RGST), continuation of the tax administration reform program, and enforcement of the Expeditious Refund System (ERS).
Sources told Business Recorder here on Saturday that the PM approved re-employment of Abrar in view of his crucial role in introducing the RGST and the Tax Administration Reform Project (TARP) of the FBR. He also played key role in testing and launching of the electronic refund system for exporters under the RGST.
The World Bank has extended the TARP up to December 31, 2012 for which services of the said official have become more critical for reform implementation. The FBR has apprehended that the absence of Abrar from the RGST plan and TARP would be a serious setback for the tax authorities who are committed on the national agenda of documenting the economy.
Details showed that Abrar, posted as Member (Strategic Planning and Statistics) and Project Director, Tax Administration Reforms Project would retire on December 31, 2010 on attaining the age of superannuation. He is currently supervising the Centralised Sales Tax Refund Office/ Expeditious Sales Tax Refund System and also working as Chairman of Sales Tax Implementation Committee. Abrar has represented FBR at national and international forums on the implementation status of Reforms Program.
Sources said that both the World Bank and the IMF teams have expressed their deep concern about the continuity of the reforms program in the event of frequent changes in vital positions. The former Member and Project Director of TRAP Zafar Majeed, who did an excellent job, retired on August 21, 2010.
Recently, the timeline for execution of Tax Administration Reform Project has been extended to December 31, 2012 along with DFID's segment up to December 31, 2011. The FBR is in the process of formulating 'reformed general sales tax' (GST/value-added tax) law and also has to achieve certain benchmarks as laid down by the World Bank and IMF.
The implementation of the project has moved considerably well and made significant progress towards achieving these benchmarks. The reform project is integrally linked to the World Bank and IMF Stand-By Arrangement which are stakeholders/partners of FBR reforms programme.
Hence, Abrar's retirement might have created discontinuity in the smooth functioning of the programme, and reformed GST implementation might have faced vital teething problems. The FBR, therefore, proposed to re-employ him, on contract basis, in his present pay scale for a period of one year wef January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011.
His re-employment will not affect the promotion prospects of other officers of Inland Revenue Service. The Prime Minister, Minister for Finance and Revenue and Establishment Division have cleared the summary of the FBR for issuance of necessary notification by the competent authority, sources added.
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