ISLAMABAD: The Inland Revenue Service Officers Association (IRSOA) strongly condemns the recent incident involving a team led by AC (IR) Rai Hamza Ahmed from the Regional Tax Office (RTO) Karachi, which was obstructed from performing its legally mandated duties.

The officer and staff, who were acting in an official capacity, were detained and held for over four hours by the management and staff of a private wedding hall. This blatant disregard for the rule of law is deeply concerning and demands urgent attention.

IRSOA has been regularly advocating for beefing up the entire enforcement apparatus. This incident among many instances on regular basis highlights the dangers our IRS personnel encounter every day. It is high time to equip IREN established via SRO 250(I)/2019 as a proper force which has been a huge success despite being run as additional function with negligible resources.

Additionally, enforcement Squads/Units at RTO Level shall be constituted and equipped to carry out regular enforcement activities. These measures will provide critical protection, ensuring our employees can carry out their duties safely and plug-in the estimated Four trillion enforcement gap.

The IRSOA is gravely concerned by these actions and the lack of adequate response. We call upon relevant authorities to uphold the law, hold those responsible accountable, and ensure that such incidents are not repeated. The IRSOA reaffirms its unwavering support for the affected officer and officials and is actively engaged with the senior leadership at FBR to resolve the issue promptly, it added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024