FBR finalises targets to broaden tax base

Mehtab Haider
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue’s chief commissioners conference on Tuesday finalised targets for broadening the tax base for Large Taxpayers Units and Regional Taxpayers Unit under which all out efforts would be made to move ahead with assessment of at least 10,000 non-filers after forwarding notices to 0.7 million tax dodgers for generating billions of rupees demands before June 30, 2011, it is learnt.

To move ahead, the conference took decision to come up with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) within next couple of days for enforcing the plan for achieving broadening of tax base. Special software will be developed by Pakistan Revenue Authority Limited (PRAL), a subsidiary of the FBR that would enable the tax authorities to track down the information and avoid wastage of data got from the Nadra.

These are very crucial decisions in the wake of capacity constraints being faced by the FBR that blocked the way for utilizing important information for broadening the tax base keeping in view experience of the Musharraf regime.

During the Musharraf regime, a survey was launched on the name of documentation of economy, which was left halfway but its collected information was never utilized by the FBR to achieve its ultimate objectives in last 10 years.

The chief commissioners’ conference held at the FBR’s headquarters with Chairman FBR Salman Siddique on Tuesday in which the World Bank’s expert on Tax Administration Reform Project (TARP) Silvani as well as important local experts participated.

“The Nadra has so far provided data about 20,000 tax evaders after identifying them potential taxpayers but they never bothered to come into tax net. We are in the process for sending them notices and efforts are underway to make assessment of at least 10,000 within the current fiscal year to generate tax demands,” a senior official of the FBR said while talking to The News here on Tuesday after chief commissioners’ conference. When contacted FBR’s Member Inland Revenue Service (IRS) Khawar Khurshid Butt told The News that he had given clear cut message to top officers of the tax machinery that the objective of broadening of tax base gave a window of opportunity to the FBR for meeting on expectation of the government that was in dire need for mobilization of revenues to meet requirements of social sector.

He said that the FBR also decided to strictly monitor the withholding agents as billions of rupees were collected but never deposited into the FBR’s kitty. “We have issued instruction to LTU Karachi to collect 5 percent tax from airlines which were charged on tickets but remained stuck up with the airlines,” he maintained.

However, the sources said that the monthly targets of all Large Taxpayers Unit and Regional Taxpayers Units were reviewed and it was found that 50 percent LTUs and RTOs failed to materialize their monthly targets. “These LTUs and RTOs high-ups were given instruction to achieve the targets of ongoing month as well as bridging the gap of last month,” added the sources.