KARACHI: Admitting his failure to deliver as chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Shabbar Zaidi in his message to two business-related WhatsApp groups (Corporate Pakistan and C100) described the corruption of billionaire MNAs as 'state sponsored corruption'.
Shabbar Zaidi, who remained a senior partner in the country's major accounting firm till 2019, had also served on several key positions, including provincial finance minister during caretaker setup in 2013.
When asked, he said he owned "every single word that I wrote in this letter".
In his message, Shabbar stated: "I served as Chairman FBR and miserably failed. Pro-bono. I was given every honor that can be given by this country. But my economics failed in relation to the other 'respectable' person in this country." "Without knowing the details I feel that this country can never be better in this state of affairs. All corruptions are intrinsically personal. Wealth Statement is the test."
He said that actual personal taxes by all the billionaire MNAs would be less definitely less than him but his net wealth was less than one tenth or twentieth of the lowest and added that these billionaire MNAs knew some 'tax planning' which he did not understand and termed it 'state sponsored corruption'.
"No one is to be blamed. I was given a chance but I failed. No complaint. Nevertheless I am satisfied. I am answerable to Almighty as I have fulfilled His commands but not answerable to fellow human beings as in this case I tried my level best. I hope I will be comfortable in my grave. My suggestion for correction is not any more think tank or committees. It is more and more information to public at large. Society if well informed is always very ruthless whilst dealing with its interest," his letter said.
"This is not a personal story. This is the reason of immigration of talent amongst upper middle class who do not happen to own land. Be it Jati Umra or Rato Dero. Be it a Sindhi or Punjabi speaking. When one generation makes a mistake the following suffers. We will not repeat the history. Now rights will be snatched if not voluntarily provided. This is another lesson of history. It is only a matter of time. I pray it to be bloodless," his letter added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020