ISLAMABAD – Though Prime Minister Imran Khan has vowed that his government would not interfere in the affairs of government departments, but his office did exactly opposite to that by pressurizing the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman to appoint an officer of its own will.
The PM Office pressurized FBR chief Jehanzeb Khan to withdraw the posting order of Aftab Alam, a grade-20 officer, as chief international taxes within hours of its issuance, The Express Tribune reported.
FBR chairman was forced to appoint Mohammad Ashfaq Ahmad as the new chief of international taxes by PM office.
The chief of international taxes handles bilateral and multilateral taxation treaties – a post that is very critical for fulfilling the PTI’s agenda of bringing back assets stashed abroad. However, both Alam and Ahmad are considered equally competent and upright officers, which raises questions over the motive of the PM Office’s intervention in administrative affairs of the tax machinery.
The development came a day after the premier promised to end political interference in the affairs of the civil bureaucracy during an address at a gathering of top bureaucrats at the PM Office.
Ashfaq Ahmad had in the past been involved in negotiations for the avoidance of double taxation treaty with Switzerland, which is probably the reason for his new posting.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/pakistan-switzerland-agree-to-enhance-bilateral-cooperation-on-sidelines-of-unga/
Ahmad, the then chief of FBR’s international tax department, had initialed the revised Convention for Avoidance of Double Taxation with respect to tax on income with Switzerland in 2014. The FBR subsequently decided to renegotiate the agreement and posted Ahmad outside after his return from Switzerland.
Both Pakistan and Switzerland have signed the revised avoidance of double taxation treaty but it has not yet been ratified by the Swiss parliament.
Prior to his appointment as chief of international taxes, Ahmad was serving as a commissioner at the Large Taxpayers Unit, Islamabad.
After appointing Ahmad as the chief of international taxes, the chairman was also asked to nominate Ahmad on the PM Asset Recovery Unit. The orders were followed again.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/switzerland-never-offered-to-return-pakistanis-assets-stashed-in-banks-clarifies-fbr/
There are three types of information being received from foreign jurisdictions. These are spontaneous exchange, automatic exchange and information on request. In case of all bilateral treaties, the information is being received on request.
Unlike in the past, now Pakistan has better chances of recovery of foreign assets as it can receive all the three types of information from foreign jurisdictions under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development multilateral treaty on taxation. Pakistan is a signatory of this treaty and all its member countries including Switzerland are bound to share information.
