LAHORE: Former Lahore Bar Association president Qari Habibur Rehman has said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officers are working very hard to collect the important revenue for the national exchequers, but tax collection targets cannot be achieved without broadening the tax net. He said that squeezing the existing taxpayers would not help the FBR achieve revenue collection targets.
Talking to Customs Today, he said that target is enhanced every year but the tax net remains the same. The officers should go to the potential taxpayers and brief them about the benefits of being a taxpayer. This will not only enable the board achieve its targets but will also help the masses nurture tax culture in society.
He added that taxpayers’ bank accounts are being attached without the proper service of the notice and depriving the taxpayers their right to appeal in order to recover sales tax liability.
Currently, the taxpayers who do not have capacity to hire lawyers and they are being served notices worth million rupees while those who can hire them are paying nominal taxes just because the lawyers present the required documents, he disclosed.
He added that listing and delisting of sales tax registration should also be made friendly as the taxpayers have to wait for years in order to register and delist the sales tax,
He concluded that the field officers should personally visit the taxpayers and inform them about their pending tax liabilities.