Tiwana finally dispatched the retirement request to the Prime Minister’s Office and the finance minister on Monday evening.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Malik Amjad Zubair Tiwana has sought an early retirement from service after he could not reconcile with the Prime Minister’s Office, according to a newspaper report.
Tiwana has sought retirement with effect from August 15th – six months ahead of reaching the age of superannuation. The chairman FBR confirmed to The Express Tribune that he had sought early retirement.
Tiwana had been contemplating premature retirement even before the budget because of constant pressure and meddling from the Prime Minister’s Office, according to the publication.
However, he withheld the decision due to the budget exercise and the talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Sources said that due to direct intervention by the Prime Minister’s Office in the working of the FBR and the prime minister’s displeasure over the way the tax affairs were being run, Tiwana decided to take premature retirement.
They added that the chairman had made up his mind to finally quit after a “rough meeting” last Friday that was chaired by the prime minister regarding the FBR’s issues.
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The prime minister was annoyed on virtually every issue that was discussed in the meeting, particularly the construction of the FBR office buildings under the public-private partnerships and some of his reforms related initiatives.
There were also concerns at the Prime Minister’s Office that the chairman was not giving a complete picture to the prime minister on many issues, resulting in a delayed decision-making.
The sources said that during Friday’s meeting, the prime minister went to the extent of saying that he might have to appoint a new person for undertaking reforms in the FBR.
Tiwana finally dispatched the retirement request to the Prime Minister’s Office and the finance minister on Monday evening.
“We will always respect requests coming from all quarters in terms of early retirements. These need to be properly discussed ahead of final decisions,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb replied when he was requested to comment, whether he had accepted the request made by the chairman.
