New FBR chief says he'll work harder to remove trust deficit

Newly nominated Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Syed Shabbar Zaidi has shown his resolve to improve revenue collection, saying he would try his level best to remove the trust deficit between the taxpayer and the FBR. Talking to Business Recorder here on Monday, Zaidi said that he would restore the confidence of the taxpayers in the tax machinery. "I will try my level best to come up to the expectations of the Prime Minister," he said.
He added that he would introduce reforms to bring changes in anti-tax environment by facilitating the taxpayers. He emphasised the use of automaton for improving the tax system of the country, he added.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed renowned chartered accountant and top tax expert Syed Shabbar Zaidi as new FBR chairman. He is a senior partner at AF Ferguson & Co and previously served as provincial finance minister in the Sindh caretaker cabinet in 2013.
Zaidi has also served as president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and as chairman of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) in the past, and has also authored several books, including the Panama Leaks - A Blessing in Disguise - Offshore Assets of Pakistani Citizens, and A Journey for Clarity and Pakistan: Not a Failed State.
He is well versed in Pakistan's tax laws and the key policy matters governing fiscal strategy, corporate regulations and foreign exchange regimes and has written extensively on the subjects. He recently also assisted the Supreme Court in a case concerning offshore assets owned by Pakistanis.
During National Tax Conference held in March last at Islamabad, organised by Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), Shabbar Zaidi said the federal government should set future revenue collection targets of the FBR on the basis of actual economic activities taking place in the country instead of traditional methods of adding 10-15 percent growth every year in the FBR tax projections.
"We must understand the internal methodology used by the FBR in working out the revenue collection targets. The government uses traditional methods of setting target by using figures of revenue growth, inflation, etc, over the last year's targets. This resulted in revenue shortfalls due to unrealistic targets," Zaidi added. The FBR has yet not received the notification of the appointment of Shabbar Zaidi as new FBR chairman.