The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced to incentivize submission of timely, quality reports by Inquiry Officers while proclaiming a punitive regime for the Inquiry Officers who fail to file inquires on time.

According to documents available with ProPakistani, the tax department has issued a letter to all officers associated with income tax and Pakistan Customs to inform them of the decision.

The Chairman FBR has approved the incentives and a punitive regime for the Inquiry Officers with a view to encouraging expeditious finalization of inquiries and to preventing delays in the finalization of inquiries.

Two basic salaries will be awarded to an Inquiry Officer who submits quality reports to the satisfaction of the Authorized Officer within up to 60 days from receipt of the letter. Similarly, there will be an award of one basic salary and a half basic salary on submitting reports within up to 75 and 90 days respectively. Moreover, the FBR has announced one basic salary as an incentive if an inquiry report gets disposed of and an order is passed within 30 days from the date of receipt of reply.

With regard to the punitive regime, the documents reveal that the Chairman FBR has directed to discontinue the IJP allowance of Inquiry Officers/ Inquiry Committee Members/Fact-Finding Inquiry Officer/Fact-Finding Inquiry Committee Members who take more than 100 days to complete an inquiry. The same will apply to Authorized Officers who take more than 40 days to decide an inquiry, and to the Authority who takes more than 40 days for doing the needful in case of proceedings against officers of up to BS-16.

Furthermore, this shall not prejudice the option available to the Authority to initiate disciplinary proceedings under the Efficiency & Discipline (E&D) Rules against the officers concerned on charges of “inefficiency” for their failure to complete the inquiries. Any excuse including requests for adjournment, non-availability of record shall not be taken as a valid excuse for lack of adherence to the time set for doing the needful, explain the documents.

These instructions will have a prospective effect, but these instructions shall be applicable to all pending inquiries from the date of issuance of these instructions by the FBR.

As per the documents, the Chairman FBR had observed that most of the Inquiry Officers delayed the finalization of inquiries despite clear provisions in the E&D Rules and standing instructions on the matters.

The delay not only reflects poor performance of an Inquiry Officer, Authorized Officer, and Authority concerned but also puts the career of the accused officer in limbo for long, adds the documents, citing that justice delayed is justice denied.

Source: Pro Pakistani