Daily Times

The Friends of Economic and Business Reforms (FEBR) on Sunday welcomed the first order of Shabbar Zaidi in the capacity of the FBR chairman to stop freezing of bank accounts without his nod, and hoped that the decision would remove trust deficit between tax collectors and taxpayers, besides achieving revenue collection targets through broadening of tax base.

FEBR President Kashif Anwar, while congratulating him on assuming charge, observed that it was a good news for the taxpayers that the new chief had directed the tax agency to devise a mechanism to freeze bank accounts in case of a dispute, directing authorities against freezing accounts without his prior approval and notice to the account holder.

In his first order as the FBR chairman, Zaidi directed all chief commissioners of Inland Revenue to inform the account holders 24 hours prior to freezing their accounts if they must do so.

Association’s president says new FBR chief’s order to stop freezing of bank accounts will remove trust deficit between tax collectors and taxpayers

Kashif Anwar explained that there was already a provision for freezing of a bank account as the last recourse in case of a dispute between the account holder and institutions.

He asked the FBR chairman to share his vision to revamp the tax system and machinery, stressing the need for shifting from manual to a completely automated system to facilitate taxpayers.

Kashif Anwar hailed the decision of the government for bringing a professional person on such a vibrant post to steer the country out of economic challenges being confronted. He hoped that the new chairman would take long- as well as short-term measures to gradually enhance tax-to-GDP ratio.

He said that people had lost trust in the tax collection system, as they had a trust deficit with the FBR and the tax collection system, and added that the new chief had to bridge this trust gap.

Kashif Anwar, who is also former LCCI vice president, said Zaidi rightly deserved the slot by virtue of his long and outstanding experience in the field of chartered accountancy, and added that he was well-versed with Pakistan’s tax law, key policy matters and governing fiscal strategy.

He proposed that the business community should be consulted before formulation of a business-friendly tax policy to ensure its smooth implementation.

He was confident that the existing cordial relations between the businessmen and the FBR would be further strengthened for the benefit of both the stakeholders.