Robina Ahmed, Visiting Research Scholar

February 2009

Robina Ather Ahmed is visiting the International Studies in February 2009 to continue her work on the Pakistan Tax Policy review project sponsored by the World Bank. Ms. Ahmed visited International Studies, AYSPS from October 2007 to December 2007. She worked with Professor Mark Rider on Tax Gap Analysis, a study carried out to assess the gap between potential and actual tax receipts in Pakistan. It was done under the Pakistan Tax Policy Review Project sponsored by the World Bank.

Robina Ahmed did MSc in Economics in 1981 and M Phil in Economics in 2003. She joined civil services of Pakistan in 1983 and served in various customs, excise and sales tax field offices as tax collector. Since 2002 she is engaged in tax policy work as member of the Fiscal Research Department in Federal Board of Revenue, Pakistan.

She has authored articles on various tax policy, tax compliance and tax administration issues and designed and supervised surveys on taxpayers’ perceptions. Her current research interests include regional trade in South Asia, performance evaluation and monitoring of tax administration and taxation of small & medium enterprises.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
M. Phil. (Economics) Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 2003
M.A (Economics) University of the Punjab, Lahore, 1981
B.A. (Economics, Political Science) University of Punjab, Lahore, 1977
F.Sc. (Science) Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Sargodha, 1974
SSC (Science) Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Sargodha, 1972.
M.Phil Thesis
Understanding Tax Evasion in Pakistan: A Human Behavior Approach. Thesis completed under the supervision of Prof. Eatzaz Ahmad

DISTINCTIONS/ AWARDS
Passed the CSS Examination with distinction and Qualified for the Customs & Excise Group
Topped the MA Class and Gold Medal was Awarded
Merit Scholarship during 1972-74

EMPLOYMENT RECORD
Last Three Positions:
Chief: Fiscal Research and Statistics, FBR
Additional Collector: Sales Tax and Federal Excise, Rawalpindi
Secretary: Taxpayer Education and Facilitation, FBR

COURSES/ WORKSHOPS
1. Tax Policy Analysis: Estimating Tax Gap for Pakistan, as a visiting scholar at Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (Georgia State University) Atlanta, USA, September 27th –December 15th, 2007
2. Tax Policy, Fiscal Analysis and Revenue Forecasting, conducted by Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (Georgia State University) Atlanta, USA, July 31 –August 11, 2006
3. Macroeconomic Management and Fiscal Policy organized by IMF/STI Singapore, July 10 – 21, 2006
3. Financial Programming offered by IMF/Ministry of Finance, Islamabad, March 4-19, 2002
4. Project Management from Skill Development Council, Islamabad, December 2001.
5. Refresher Courses in the areas of Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, International Trade and Mathematics for Economists and Statistics from PIDE July-August 2000.
6. Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights under TRIPS Agreement from Directorate of Training (Customs and Central Excise), Islamabad, May 15-17, 2000.
7. MIS for Senior Executives offered by Federal Bureau of Computers, Islamabad, October 18-28, 1999.
8. Macroeconomic Policy and Management offered by Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) August 17-29, 1998.
9. Microsoft Office from Soft Logix, Rawalpindi, September-December 1997.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1. More than 23 years of experience, in various capacities, in the Customs and Sales Tax Collectorates and CBR Headquarter.
2. Designed and Conducted Surveys on Evaluation of Educational Programme for Elimination of Child Labor in the Football Industry in Sialkot, Sales Tax Business Processes, Tax Evasion Behavior and Taxpayer Perception on Tax Administration Reforms.
3. Research and Analysis of Federal Taxes.
4. Development of benchmarks, performance evaluation and performance monitoring criterion for FBR and its field offices.

COMPUTER SKILLS
Econometric Views, SPSS, MS Office, MS Excel and MS Word

LANGUAGES
Proficiency in Punjabi, Urdu, and English

PUBLICATIONS
Articles Published in the CBR Quarterly Review.
1. Sectoral Analysis of Taxes and GDP: Seeking Further Insight
2. Sectoral Analysis of Taxes and GDP: In Search of the Missing Link
3. Tax Evasion and Severity of Penalties: Is there a Nexus?
4. From ST to GST: The Development of Sales Tax

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS
1. Tax Gap Analysis
2. Revenue Impact of FTAs