New FBR chairman Shabbar Zaidi says people have a trust deficit with tax collection system
Shabbar Zaidi was appointed by Prime Minister Imran Khan as chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue
May 07, 2019
Pakistan’s new chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Shabbar Zaidi said on Monday that people had lost trust in the tax collection system. Speaking on Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath, Zaidi said Prime Minister Imran Khan had given him a major responsibility.
“People have a trust deficit with the FBR and the tax collection system. People don’t trust their credibility. We have to bridge this trust gap and my role will be to do this.”
The FBR chairman also stressed that the issue of fixing Pakistan’s revenues was a matter of the country’s survival.
When asked about the biggest challenge for next year which was the country owing Rs540 billion to the IMF, Zaidi refused to comment.
Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed renowned chartered accountant and tax affairs expert Syed Shabbar Zaidi as chairman of the FBR.
Zaidi is a senior partner at A.F. Ferguson and Co, a leading accountancy and advisory company in Pakistan and a Price Waterhouse Coopers member firm. He has previously served as provincial finance minister in the Sindh caretaker cabinet in 2013.
Zaidi has also served as president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and as chairman of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) in the past, and has also authored several books, including Panama Leaks – A Blessing in Disguise – Offshore Assets of Pakistani Citizens, A Journey for Clarity and Pakistan: Not a Failed State.
