Top government officials have categorically said that so far no final decision has been taken on the appointment of the new FBR Chairman to replace Javed Ghani on attaining the age of superannuation.
Highly-placed government officials, who are well aware of the FBR developments, told Propakistani on Tuesday night that the reports about the appointment of the new FBR Chairman are not confirmed. Till now, no such decision has been taken. Budget exercise is expected to be supervised by Javed Ghani, they added.
To a question that the FBR Member Inland Operations Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed is the government’s favorite for the appointment as new Chairman, officials insisted that he is not the senior-most in the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) as there are many IRS officials senior to him. Till now no final decision has been taken, he concluded.
However, other sources said that the government is reviewing whether to appoint a new Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) or allow Javed Ghani to continue till June 30 for completion of the federal budget (2020-21).
On the other hand, there are strong rumors in the FBR Headquarters that the government may appoint a new Chairman after the retirement of Javed Ghani on April 10. There are unconfirmed reports that the government is considering different names within the FBR for the appointment of the new Chairman. However, it has yet not been decided whether the official would be from the Pakistan Customs Service or Inland Revenue Service. The existing Chairman is from the Pakistan Customs Service.
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On July 4, 2020, the federal government has assigned an additional charge of the post of Chairman, FBR to Muhammad Javed Ghani. He assumed the additional charge of the post of Secretary, Revenue Division from July 8, 2020. FBR Chairman would retire on April 10 i.e. two months before the federal budget.
Traditionally the government allows the outgoing FBR Chairman to continue to work till the announcement of the federal budget. In the past, budget preparation exercises were supervised by the outgoing Chairman till the completion of the budget. If Javed Ghani is allowed to continue to work, he may complete the ongoing budget exercise by June 2021.
