Over 2000 FBR officials transferred in a major reshuffle

More than 2,500 employees of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) across the country have been transferred to various departments with an aim to meet its revenue targets.

On Friday night, the FBR issued transfer orders of 2,150 low-paid staff of Inland Revenue in the first phase of reshuffling. The maximum number of employees, 726, was transferred in Karachi, followed by 565 in Lahore, and 357 in Islamabad, The Express Tribune reported.

Other regions where transfers have taken place include Peshawar, Gujranwala, Multan, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Quetta, Abbottabad, Sukkur, Sialkot, Sahiwal, Bhawalpur and Sargodha.

The changes in the overall structure of the FBR came after the Imran Khan-led PTI government had last month hinted at bringing reforms under which the Board's headquarters will be trimmed and the number of members will be reduced from over one dozen to just four or five.

Prime Minister Khan has also called a meeting of grade-21 and 22 officers of the FBR next week, which will be followed by transfer orders at the members' level, sources told The Express Tribune on Friday. The officers serving in intelligence wings of the FBR are also being transferred.

The FBR is a central revenue collection agency of the Government of Pakistan that investigates crimes related to tax evasion and money-laundering. The transfers and postings are aimed at plugging revenue leakages, curbing smuggling at borders and ports and assessing real incomes of people.

Sources were quoted as saying that the FBR is going to reduce the number of its members from 13 to eight besides replacing some key members.

The FBR has missed the annual tax collection target of Rs 4.4 trillion set for the last fiscal year. For the first time in its history, the FBR's revenue collection fell even below last year's level by a record margin of Rs 576 billion.

( With inputs from ANI )