Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced a major reshuffling exercise in order to break the familiarity threat of its employees with the related parties and businesses. As per the order issued by the revenue board on Friday, as many as 2154 employees of grade 9 to 16 (BPS – 9 – BPS – 16) will be transferred to improve the efficiency of the board as it aims to achieve giant revenue target in this fiscal year.
726 employees of grade 9 to 14 from the Inland Revenue Department – Karachi will be affected under the exercise. Similarly, 565 employees of grade 9 to 15 from Lahore, 357 employees of grade 9 to 15 from twin cities (Islamabad and Rawalpindi), 500 employees and officials serving under grade 9 to 16 in Regional Tax Offices of Abbottabad, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Hyderabad, Sialkot, Sargodha, Sukkur, Peshawar, Sahiwal, Multan and Quetta will likewise be affected.
The unprecedented step taken by the revenue board is one if its own kind, and under the action officials with dishonest reputation will also be sidelined according to reports. After the successful completion of the asset declaration scheme ended days ago, FBR is much pumped up to target the remaining non-filer citizens to increase the tax net.
The transfers are done for two major reasons. One is to provide an opportunity to the employees to broaden their working experience and refresh their skill set by working in a different division and facing new challenges, as they have been working in their respective offices for quite a long time. Another reason for the transfer is to break the familiarity between the taxpayers and the stationed employees of the revenue board for any possible malpractices. With the new responsibilities, efficiency would be improved and working threats would be reduced. FBR is actively working and implementing reforms to accomplish the target of 5.5 trillion rupees, set for this financial year 2019 – 2020.