The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) worked without any chairman or acting chairman on Monday, as the former head Salman Siddiq got retirement last week and the slot is still lying vacant. Sources told Business Recorder that the FBR employees and field formations including Large Taxpayer Units (LTUs) and Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) kept on waiting for a formal notification of the new or acting chairman of the FBR throughout the day.
The FBR has not received any notification/instructions from the Establishment Division or the Ministry of Finance as yet. Presently, Mahmood Alam, a BS-22 officer is the most senior member of the Strategic Planning and Statistics (SP&S) Wing in the FBR Headquarters. He is officer of Pakistan Customs Group and previously served at various key positions across the country in his illustrious career spanning over 33 years.
In the past, whenever FBR chairman went on leave or for that matter abroad on official tour, the FBR notified Mahmood Alam as acting chairman. Tax managers want immediate appointment of the FBR chairman, which is extremely important for maintaining current pace of on-going exercise of documentation, recovery of arrears and broadening tax base.