LAHORE: Federal Board of Revenue has held an interactive workshop at Directorate of Training (DOT), Lahore to interact with the withholding agents.The roles and responsibilities of withholding agents were explained in depth. Awareness of e-services extended to them through FBR’s portal was elaborately explained.
Chief Commissioner Shafqat Mahmood of RTO-I Lahore hosted the workshop. He welcomed the chief guest Riffat Shaheen Qazi, Member Facilitation and Taxpayer Education (FATE). Additional Commissioner Humaira Maryam of RTO-II Lahore and Additional Director Naveed Ahmad Nawab, (Headquarters) DOT Lahore were also present at the occasion.
Riffat Shaheen Qazi in her opening remarks encouraged the participants to freely and openly discuss their problems regarding the withholding tax and give their input for improvement of the withholding tax regime. She emphasized that the FATE Wing of FBR is committed to create awareness amongst the taxpayers regarding their responsibilities as withholding agents.
Deputy Commissioner Syed Ali Adnan Zaidi delivered a comprehensive presentation on the roles and responsibilities of withholding agents in the system of tax collection and highlighted and discussed the laws and provisions concerning WHT agents.
A detailed e-portal (website) awareness presentation was delivered by Webmaster of FATE Wing Abdus Sami elaborating to the audience all the facilities and information provided on FBR’s web portal so that the withholding agents can take full benefits of the system and FBR’s e-portal.
The presentations were followed by questions and answers session where the participants highlighted their issues faced in sales tax and income tax at the time of withholding taxes.
The participants of the workshop appreciated the holding of such event and thanked FBR for providing them with this opportunity of direct interaction with the tax authorities. They hoped that these workshops would be made a regular feature of FBR’s outreach program.
Chief Commissioner Shafqat Mahmood appreciated the initiative of FATE Wing of FBR and said that these workshops should be turned into a regular feature as they provide an opportunity of direct interaction with the stakeholders of taxation system. He thanked the participants for their active participation in the session.
The workshop was attended by a large number of withholding agents from different business organizations under the jurisdiction of RTOs in Lahore.
The workshop at DOT Lahore was held as part of a series of workshops being held all over the country by FBR’s FATE Wing to communicate with the taxpayers and to educate them about the various initiatives undertaken by FBR. The workshops also provide an opportunity of interaction with the taxpayers so as to facilitate them as well as to get feedback from them to further improve the FBR-taxpayer relationship.