'Nominated' FBR chairman vows to repose people's trust in taxation system

The prime minister-nominated chairman of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Shabbar Zaidi has said that the people had lost trust in the tax collection system and his role is to bridge this trust gap.

Talking to a private news channel, Zaidi said Prime Minister Imran Khan had given him a major responsibility.

"People have a trust deficit with the FBR and the tax collection system. People don't trust their credibility," he maintained.

The FBR chairman also stressed that the issue of fixing Pakistan's revenues was a matter of the country's survival. Zaidi, however, refused to comment when asked about the biggest challenge for next year, i-e the country owing Rs540 billion to the IMF.

Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed renowned chartered accountant and tax affairs expert Syed Shabbar Zaidi as chairman of the FBR.

Zaidi is a senior partner at A.F. Ferguson and Co, a leading accountancy and advisory company in Pakistan and a Price Waterhouse Coopers member firm. He has previously served as provincial finance minister in the Sindh caretaker cabinet in 2013.

Zaidi has also served as president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and as chairman of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) in the past, and has also authored several books, including Panama Leaks – A Blessing in Disguise – Offshore Assets of Pakistani Citizens, A Journey for Clarity and Pakistan: Not a Failed State.