CPG lauds appointment of Shabbar Zaidi as FBR chairman.

ISLAMABAD -- The Corporate Pakistan Group (CPG) has welcomed the appointment of Syed Mohammad Shabbar Zaidi as the Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and takes pride in Zaidi being an active member of CPG. It is pertinent to mention that Zaidi is doing this service for the nation on a pro bono/honorary basis. On the very first day of taking charge, Zaidi issued a directive against the existing practice of attaching the bank accounts of those companies which the tax authorities considered to have defaulted in tax payments, by making it conditional on giving at least one day notice to the CEO of the company and seeking prior approval of the FBR chairman. This measure has been widely acclaimed by the business community across the country and has set the direction of the way FBR will be governed under his chairmanship.

Zaidi is a chartered accountant and has had a distinguished professional career with the leading accountancy firm A. F. Ferguson and Co. (a member firm of PwC network) where he also served as the senior partner. He has been the president of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) and South Asian Federation of Accountants. Zaidi has contributed significantly to the development of taxation and fiscal laws of Pakistan. He is a man of vision and while pursuing an active professional career he has authored several books as well as participated in various philanthropic projects. Over the years, Zaidi has participated in many discourses on television as well as in conferences and seminars where he has clearly explained his vision for the improvement of Pakistan's economy in general and the taxation system in particular. He firmly believes in revamping the taxation policy and administration to bring the untaxed areas of the economy into the tax net thereby broadening the tax...