KARACHI: Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) has asked its members to report presence of privately hired persons by tax officials.
The KTBA circulated an official memorandum to all its members informing that hiring of private staff by officers had been condemned strictly by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
Further, the FBR had also warned the tax officials of hiring private persons would lead to disciplinary action against the officers.
“Members are urged to report any instance of this nature with the name of officer, his unit or zone and his staff name, without disclosing the identity of their respective cases.”
The tax bar further said that the matter would be taken up vigorously with at the Chief Commissioner level in order to prevent such unethical activity.
The phenomenon of hiring private persons is increasing in Inland Revenue after it was witnessed in Pakistan Customs.
A tax practitioner said that at the level of Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) almost all senior officers had hired private persons for assisting in official work.
The practitioner said that these privately hired persons had access to all sensitive information of taxpayers including tax returns, assessment and other important correspondence.
The privately hired persons are also working as backdoor for corrupt practices of senior officers.
