ISLAMABAD, JULY 31: Malik Amjad Zubair Tiwana, the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), has asked to retire early since he and the Prime Minister’s Office could not come to an agreement (PMO).
In their most recent encounters, Shehbaz Sharif frequently chastised Tiwana for her performance. Even the chairman’s Monday meeting at PM House was skipped.
Six months before he would have been superannuated, on August 15th, Tiwana has decided to retire. Due to persistent pressure and meddling from the PMO, he had been mulling this step even prior to the budget.
On Monday night, Tiwana also submitted his plea for retirement to the Finance Division. Tiwana’s departure may spur rivalry for the chairmanship among the Customs Group, the powerful Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), and the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) if his desire for retirement is granted.
Tiwana’s decision was driven by the Prime Minister’s Office’s direct intervention and his dissatisfaction with tax matters. Tiwana was compelled to resign during a contentious meeting last Friday during which the prime minister vented his dissatisfaction over a number of FBR-related concerns.
Disagreements surfaced about the public-private partnerships used to develop the FBR office buildings and the current digitalization project headed by international consultant McKenzie. The chief minister expressed discontent with the FBR’s collaboration with McKenzie, citing notable disparities in sales tax information and identifying
