ISLAMABAD(National Times): The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday issued clarification on an editorial titled “Paying Taxes” published in daily DAWN which aimed to malign FBR.
The FBR has taken a very strong exception to an editorial captioned “Paying Taxes” published in Daily Dawn on November 10, 2021 which is, indeed, malicious in intent and suspicious in content.
The said piece has termed used hackneyed jargon which include ‘sloppy tax regime’, ‘an army of tax collector working personal financial gains’ and those are ‘reluctant to use technology’ and the likely ‘resistance from tax collectors’ to the reform agenda at hand and the resultant failure of FBR in collecting sufficient revenues.
It also talked about ‘the nexus between the wealthy and tax collectors’.
All these accusations are far from facts on the ground and seem to be part of a well-orchestrated campaign aimed to malign FBR.
As a matter of fact, the commendable performance of FBR in the previous Financial Year 2020-21 and first four months of current Financial Year 2021-22 has been widely appreciated at all levels and by the prime minister himself on more occasions than one.
The Revenue Target for F.Y 2020-21 has not only been achieved but also surpassed by Rs.54 billion by collecting Rs. 4,745 billion against the assigned target of Rs. 4,691 billion. Likewise, continuing the growth momentum, the revenue targets for the first four month of the current financial year have been surpassed by Rs.233 billion with year to year growth of 37% by collecting Rs. 1,840 billion against the assigned target of Rs. 1,607 billion.
Income Tax Returns for tax year 2021 has crossed 2.8 million as on 1st November, 2021 with tax paid with returns stood at Rs.52 billion as against 1.8 Million returns and 29.6 Billion tax paid with returns on 8th December, 2020, the closing date, last year.
Contrary to the claims made in the caption editorial, FBR is vigorously introducing automation and digitization not only to increase the much-needed revenue but also to ensure transparency, efficiency and facilitation in the tax system.
With its focus on ensuring ease of doing business, FBR is all set to digitize and automate the processes involved in tax collection in order to minimize human interaction with taxpayers and thereby ensuring transparency in the system.
The recent launch of Track and Trace System to digitally monitor important sectors like Tobacco, Fertilizers, Sugar, Beverages, and Cement from manufacturers to the end users, is yet another milestone achieved by FBR.
Furthermore, the Point of Sales System (POS) introduced by FBR is aimed at ensuring real time monitoring of actual sales of Tier-one retailers to plug revenue leakages and thus increase the revenue collection significantly. Over 14,000 point-of-sale terminals have already been integrated with the real time reporting system of FBR.
In collaboration with NADRA, plans are also afoot to use Artificial Intelligence and Mathematical Modelling in order to ascertain real income and thus determine actual tax liability.
Furthermore, FBR is all set to launch a Single Sales Tax Portal by the end of November, 2021.
The Portal would not only be beneficial for the taxpayers in filing their single monthly Sales Tax Returns but would also be helpful for tax collectors in having a 360-degrees view of taxpayers’ business activities across the country in order to maximize revenue potential and tax compliance.
By all standards, this is a giant leap forward in taxpayers’ facilitation and at the same time, a significant step in harmonization of taxes between federal and provincial governments.
These are some of the key initiatives which would broaden the tax base, ensure transparency, and promote accountability within FBR.
Likewise, promoting FBR’s vision, there are a wide array of out-of-box solutions being designed and executed by Pakistan Customs to ensure transparency, automation of processes and maximize ease of doing business.
Recent formal launch of Pakistan Single Window (PSW) by FBR is being termed as a game changer for promotion of international trade with Pakistan, thus having a massive potential to increase revenue for the country.
The Authorized Economic Operator Program (AEO) has been introduced to facilitate the processing of import and export consignment of AEO companies on priority through the We-BOC system.
Similarly, Clearance in the sky has been introduced for the seamless processing/clearance of goods declarations of air cargo before the landing of aircraft in Pakistan.
There are a number of other initiatives being taken by FBR to reform and restructure its tax system which cannot be described in detail due to limited space.
Team FBR is fully determined to not only achieve the maximum revenue during the second quarter but is also geared to exceed the staggering target of Rs. 5,829 Billion, set for the current FY 2021-22.
This goes without saying that FBR’s historic achievements would not have been possible without unflinching support of the prime minister who believes in rule of law, and its enforcement of all without any distinction.