ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial, Wednesday, categorically stated that the FBR has not been used for political victimisation of politicians and there is no pressure on the FBR to make cases for victimisation.
The FBR chairman informed Senate Standing Committee on Finance that, “I assure the committee that there is no political victimisation and we have never received any order from high ups on such kinds of actions. The politician interference has been totally stopped in the FBR.”
He said that the FBR has already warned tax officials of immediate suspension, in case, they try to exert pressure for seeking choice postings in field formations.
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In this regard, the FBR chairman has issued a letter to all the departments with regard to use of extraneous influence by officers/ officials of the FBR in administrative matters.
The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, received a comprehensive briefing on the updated status of its budget recommendations made during the Budget 2025-26 deliberations.
Highlighting alleged harassment of senators by FBR officials, Senator Afnanullah Khan stated that a notice had been issued to an IT company registered under his name. He underlined that FBR demanded income tax on a project which was not completed due to COVID. The FBR chairman assured the committee of prompt resolution, stating that the matter would be thoroughly examined without delay.
Senator Afnanullah Khan accused that a tax official (Additional Commissioner Ali Jafar) of the Corporate Tax Office Islamabad has made a wrong case against his IT company, he alleged before the committee.
The FBR chairman responded that if tax official is found guilty, he would be punished and prosecuted.
Senator Mohsin Aziz said that it is a fact many cases are re-opened against the taxpayers.
Responding to this, the FBR chairman said that, “I have conveyed to the entire tax machinery that it is their work to collect only due tax from taxpayers. Tax officials are not assigned to collect more taxes, but only due and correct amount of taxes from the taxpayers.”
Discussing the recent status of barter trade between Pakistan and Iran, officials stated that the Commerce Ministry has initiated barter trade on the basis of mutual understanding between the parties, and the arrangements will be finalised after the approval of FBR and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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