ISLAMABAD: The Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) Tuesday elected its new office-bearers for the year 2020-21 in its 334th meeting held in Karachi.
The Council unanimously elected Iftikhar Taj as President of the Institute, Ashfaq Yousuf Tola and Muhammad Ali Latif as Vice Presidents.
According to an announcement of the ICAP on Tuesday, Iftikhar Taj is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) and has been serving as an elected Council Member since 2017 and has also served as Vice President for the term of 2018-19. He has been playing a vital role in several ICAP committees including Investigation Committee, Marketing Committee, IT Committee, Committee on Fiscal Laws, Education & Training Committee, Building Committee, PAIB Committee and Practicing Members Committee including Boards i.e. Digital Assurance and Accounting Board. Currently, he is working as Director Governance & Strategy at Crowe Hussain Chaudhry & Co. He is also Technical Advisor on PAIB committee of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) New York, USA.
Iftikhar Taj is a governance practitioner with over 30 years of industry experience in financial services, fast moving consumer goods, information technology (IT), textile, media, advertising and bulk drug manufacturing sectors in various roles. He has the experience of corporate world in both local and international markets. He has trained over 500 directors of listed companies on corporate governance in private & public sectors and the journey is on.
Outside work, he is a keen golfer and a mentor.
Tola is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan. He is Council Member since 2017 and headed Fiscal Laws Committee, Economic Advisory & Government Relationship Committee and Overseas Coordination Committee. He is also a life member of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is Technical Advisor on the Board of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) and also chairs the Anti-Money Laundering Taskforce of SAFA. He is an accomplished professional who has experience of over 25 years in diversified areas such as financial and forensic auditing, management consultancy, tax advisory and corporate structuring. Moreover, Mr. Tola has a keen interest in matters pertaining to the Economy of Pakistan, which is portrayed by his contributions towards policymaking, reflected through various memberships of technocratic governmental bodies, such as the Tax Reforms Implementation Committee, and the Privatization Commission of Pakistan.
He has tax knowledge of more than 40 jurisdictions around the globe. He also co-authored report with Dr. Hafeez Pasha on the taxation system of province of Sindh. One of his esteemed contribution towards policymaking with regards to the taxation system of Pakistan includes a presentation of his compendious study on the "Single Stage Sales Tax" regime to International Monetary Fund (IMF) on behalf of the Government of Pakistan.
Tola is also an avid contributor towards social development of the society. The "TAX PAK" Monthly Newsletter of Tola Associates, his tax advisory firm, is just one of the few examples of his contributions. The monthly newsletter, apprises the world-at-large, about major developments in taxation laws every month. Mr. Tola also held position of President Karachi Club for 4 years. Muhammad Ali Latif is a Fellow Member (FCA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP). He is a practicing chartered accountant working as Partner in "M/s Muniff Ziauddin & Co., Chartered Accountants".
Latif is a second generation Chartered Accountant and son of a well- known practicing chartered accountant, M.T.K Rehmani (Late) - who practiced under the name & style of "M/s Rehmani & Co, Chartered Accountants."
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020