Countrywide pen-down strike call: FBR suspends two senior IR officials

The FBR has suspended two senior tax officers after a nationwide pen-down strike call, Business Recorder reported. Two notifications issued on Monday name Naib Ali Pathan, Commissioner RTO Zone-I Hyderabad, and Ali Salah Hayat, Additional Commissioner at RTO Sargodha. The move came after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reportedly expressed displeasure, and the Inland Revenue Association later withdrew the call following talks with FBR members.

The FBR termed the conduct a prima facie breach of rules 23 and 26 in the 2026 conduct code for civil servants, amounting to misconduct under rule 34. Investigation is under way for two more BS 20 officers, who have been returned to FBR Headquarters over a press statement that was not authorised and a demand that work stop. The board says formal disciplinary action will follow under the 2020 efficiency and discipline rules.

The proposed restructuring is intended to narrow the gap in tax collection, lift revenue and make the FBR more efficient internally. The strike call targeted that planned overhaul of the tax machinery.