The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday directed its employees to vacate the FBR House at 3.00 pm due to tight security arrangements for joint session of the Parliament.
Sources told Business Recorder that the board-in-council meeting, headed by FBR Chairman Ahmed Waqar, which usually continued till late night to discuss all tax policy-related matters, on Wednesday ended at 2.30 pm. Most of the council meetings end around 11-12 pm to thoroughly discuss key issues of reforms etc. However, Wednesday's the meeting was ended in view of security arrangements.
Sources said that the time of the meeting had not been curtailed as it was already planned to be ended at 2.30 pm. The meeting did not take up the matter of curtailing powers of the Chief Collectors of Customs, North and South. It discussed issues relating to the priority areas under the Tax Administration Reform Programme (TARP) and World Bank recommendations for the implementation of reforms.
Meanwhile, the FBR Chairman issued verbal instructions to the employees for leaving the FBR House at 3.00 pm in view of security arrangements for joint session of the Parliament. The FBR employees, including senior tax officials, have to walk daily to the opposite road where temporary car parking of the FBR has been established due to security arrangements.