Advisor to KPRA and Ex-member FBR Iftikhar Qutab passed away in Peshawar

Iftikhar Qutab—a walking Encyclopedia of knowledge particularly of tax policy and tax administration—who was serving in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) breathed his last on Tuesday evening in Peshawar. He had a heart attack on Tuesday evening and was rushed to hospital where the doctors pronounced him dead.

He joined KPRA as Advisor Tax Policy and Reforms after serving as Chairman Punjab Revenue Authority and Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue/Member FBR and Chief Financial Officer at National University of Medical Sciences. Mr. Qutab has authored three books on social philosophy and contributed in the institutional development of KPRA when he joined the team of KPRA where he drafted rules and regulations for the administration of sales tax on services. Mr. Qutab used to deliver lectures and hold training sessions on tax administration and tax policy in the civil services academies.

The sudden death of the Tax Guru shocked the staff of the KPRA who rushed to his residence after getting the sad news at night as he had a good day with everyone he met on Tuesday. He was a cheerful and charismatic person who always had a smile on face for everyone in the authority. He was always available to provide help and guidance to the staff of KPRA and would always add value to their work. He was an advocate to establishing tax culture in the province and was against heavy taxes. He would used to say, “we shouldn’t punish our people, we just have to tax them.”

Mr. Qutab had blended with the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and fought for their rights. His death news shocked the Minister Finance Taimur Khan Jhagra who expressed his grief on his Twitter saying, “Qutab sb has been instrumental in KPRA’s turnaround, & continually fought for the rights of Pakhtunkhwa in his time with us.”

DG KPRA Fayyaz Ali Shah called his death a huge loss to KPRA. “Mr. Iftikhar Qutab was an institution and we were learning from his skills and experience. Such people are born once in centuries,” he said in his statement.

Former Director General KPRA Muhammad Tahir Orakzai called him a “thorough professional, honest and a very jolly person. We used to exchange jokes during tough times ..Learnt alot from him…He was a team member with me and worked together for institutional development of KPRA.”