Officers at the Regional Tax Office (RTO) of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) have expressed a mixed reaction over the statement of Prime Minister Imran Khan that he might create a new tax authority if the FBR fails to achieve revenue targets.
There was a clear distinction in the approach of young officers against those serving at the middle tier of the organization as the young officer believe in what the prime minister has stated while the elder ones have expressed their displeasure over it. The middle tier management is of the view that no one can close the FBR down at his sweet will.
It may be noted that all the heads of RTO also gathered in the FBR headquarters in Islamabad to ponder over as to how the performance of organization can be enhanced in line with the vision of prime minister.
They said abolition of a department cannot be answer to the problems faced by it, as a new institution cannot be set up without spending billions of rupees. Also, they said, it is not possible to bring in new blood having an understanding of the tax system and the nature of the taxpayers as well. However, they agreed with the impression that the government has an option to hire foreigners to run the tax system forthwith.
The middle tier management circles are of the view that perhaps the prime minister was annoyed with the performance of those FBR officers who were brought in by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to replace the previous ones. However, they were unanimous in the opinion that the prime minister could have avoided remarks regarding closing down the FBR, as it is equal to strangulation of the economy. The tax collection machinery is the respiratory system of the economy that cannot be suppressed even for a while, they stressed. They termed it a 'childish approach'. Instead, they said, the prime minister should have stated that he would introduce measures to put the house of FBR in order. Otherwise, he should resign first before closing down the FBR, they said. When pointed out the FBR was facing a revenue shortfall of Rs250 billion, they called it a gimmick, saying that the department would meet the shortfall at the end of the fiscal year.
However, the young and honest officers say that they were in support of the closure of FBR subject to the availability of an alternative of it. According to them, the prime minister should suggest a mechanism to improve the performance, as collecting revenue has become difficult keeping in view the stoppage of government spending out of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and absence of business activities in private sector due to the shattered confidence of investors. They said the government has appointed people of its own choice at the higher level but still it is not happy with the performance.
Meanwhile, some young officers are of the view that the government should legalize corruption in order to quantify its volume in the FBR. They said the government is crying over corruption without assessing its actual volume in the system. They are of the view that the prime minister was simply trying to warn the corrupt elements and that's all.
Comments
Comments are closed.