FAISALABAD: Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Tariq Bajwa reiterated the government’s resolve to expand tax net by bringing in new taxpayers, saying that at least 100,000 new taxpayers will be brought into the net annually.
Addressing the second All Pakistan Chambers Presidents Pre-Budget Conference at Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), Bajwa appreciated the FCCI endeavour for holding this crucial conference. He said that most of the business community was patriotic and was ready to pay their due taxes but while making demands “we should keep in mind the present fiscal environment in which we are living.” He pointed out that only 70 percent of the country needs was being managed through revenue collected from taxes while the rest 30 was being fulfilled through borrowing. This situation is neither acceptable nor sustainable and we all should concentrate on how we could come out of this situation and put our country on road to progress and prosperity, he stressed. The FBR chairman underlined that taxation should be growth-oriented and all sectors must pay their due share.
Bajwa argued that Prime Minister’s Investment Package was a unique opportunity and non-filers could avail the opportunity till April 30, 2014.
About rationalization, he said that the SRO culture will be eliminated while the Process for sales tax registration has been initiated with green channel to ensure complete transparency.
Regarding refunds, he said that refund claims up to Rs1 million were being paid. We have so far cleared 20,000 cases, he said and added that in this year “we have doubled the amount of refund as last year we had paid Rs1800 million and this year Rs4100 million are being paid.” He said that improvement in automation is also on the anvil and the PRAL system would bring more clarity and transparency in the tax collection. He said that our objective is never to harass the genuine tax payers but we want that every person who have taxable income should come into the tax net. We have issued 80,000 notices in the first instance and are expected to bring 0.1 million new taxpayers in the tax net in this year.
The FBR chairman assured to resolve other petty issues related with the FBR amicably in consultation with stakeholders.
Earlier, FCCI President Engr Suhail Bin Rashid welcomed the participants and Panelists and said that our objective is to put Pakistan on road to progress and prosperity. We all have consensus on increasing tax net base and hoped that the government would add no burden on the existing taxpayers. He said that the joint budget proposals prepared during this conference will be completed very soon and would be submitted to the tax authorities for their incorporation in the federal budget 2014-15.
Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) Chairman Iftikhar Qutab said that his organization was established in July 2012 as a constitutional requirement. We are holding training sessions for the existing officials and they would be ready to take their responsibility within one year in the field. He said that the PRA would collect all provincial taxes including property tax and VAT. He said that the sales tax rate was 16 percent and the government was planning to reduce it. He, however, said that the PRA intended to recover the tax from all sectors except THE education, health and charity. He said that the system of filing return will be made on line and transparent. He said that the Chambers would be involved in the process of recovery of this tax.
Former FBR chairman Abdullah Yousuf, ACCA Haroon Jan, CIPE Country Director Moin Fudda, Provincial Minister for industries Chaudhry Muhammad Shafique, MNA Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan, FCCI SVP Riazul Haq, VP Ch Muhammad Asghar, in addition to Presidents of 32 Chambers of Commerce and Industry took active part in the discussion by giving valuable suggestions.
Later shields and gifts were also distributed to the guests, speakers and Presidents of various Chambers.