Disbursement of annual honoraria to FBR stopped

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has directed all field formations of the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) and Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) not to disburse any sanctioned or unsanctioned amount of cash reward or honoraria to their personnel.

A directive issued by the FBR (Revenue Division) on Monday, a copy of which is available with The News, dealt with the sanctioning of reward and honoraria for the current financial year 2019-2020 directions.

Signed by FBR Secretary Saleemur Rehman, the notification said that the competent authority has directed that no sanctioned/unsanctioned amount of cash reward/honoraria may be disbursed by any field formations of FBR/(IRS & PCS).

It required immediate acknowledgment of the directives through return fax without any delay. Its copies were sent to the members (operation-customs/IR), FBR, with the request to ensure compliance from field formations, and all directors general of PCS/IR.

Every year, the not only the FBR personnel but officers and staffers of some other ministries like finance and planning, the presidency and the prime minister’s office are paid reward or honoraria for their “performance”, “achievements” and meeting or exceeding the set targets.

In the words of a senior official, these civil servants have thus been getting 18 salaries instead of 12 in a year. He said that there may be two reasons for non-payment of cash reward/ honoraria this year. One, the public kitty is not in a position to bear this luxury. Second, the overall performance of the government departments has not been up to the mark.

The economy which was already in a poor shape before the COVID-19 hit Pakistan and the world at large landed in a highly critical phase after the epidemic struck with full force, affecting the business and revenue collection. The government is trying to open maximum businesses so that the economic activity is revived.