ISLAMABAD, March 19: In what appears to be indifference towards a group collecting more tax than others, the government seems unwilling to allocate grade 22 posts for officials of the Inland Revenue Service (IRS).

Even small cadre groups like postal, audits and accounts, and customs have posts in BPS-22, but no such post has been allocated for the IRS, which collects 89 per cent of the tax revenue generated by federal agencies.

The FBR collects about 90 per cent of the federal government revenue. Of this, 89 per cent is being collected by the IRS group.

The IRS emerged as the biggest group following the World Bank-funded reforms project that saw the merger of sales tax, federal excise duty and income tax units in the past five years. The IRS has a workforce of over 18,000 personnel.

There are 18 regional tax offices (RTOs), three large taxpayers units (LTUs) and 64 tax facilitation centres (TFCs) in the IRS field formation.

A senior tax official told Dawn that the FBR has submitted a request to the government to consider senior slots for the group in BPS-22 and a share in secretariat posts as well.

The official said no response had yet been received from the government on the matter. He said there was no share of the IRS in the secretariat posts especially in BPS-20 and above, dominated currently by the DMG officials.

Even groups with smaller cadre strengths like the Police Service of Pakistan, Audits and Accounts, DMG and Pakistan Postal Service not only have their own cadre posts in BPS-22 but also have a reasonable share in the secretariat group as well.

The official said the alleged discrimination practically limits the career progression of the officers of IRS group to a maximum of BPS-21.

Another senior officer of the group said in comparison to other services there appears to be a bias against the IRS group despite the crucial role it plays vis-à-vis the national economy.

A source in the Establishment Division said the FBR had demanded upgradation of seven BPS-21 posts to BPS-22.

A summary has already been submitted in this regard but the government says it may consider only four cadre posts in BPS-22 for the group.

The officer questioned the government's approach that favours reforming the tax administration but seems unwilling to improve career structure of the IRS group. “This attitude has resulted in severe demoralisation, de-motivation and job dissatisfaction across the service group,” the official said.