Daily Times

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan has claimed that his government had gained the full support and trust of the masses due to its people-friendly initiatives, which made it raise the taxpayers’ number from 5,000 to 37,000 in the region.

“We all are united with regard to the welfare and development of the state and we all have to play a responsible role to meet the challenges”, he said.

Talking about increasing the tax net and making the tax system people-friendly, he said that the current government had increased the number of tax filers exponentially.

“There were misunderstandings among the people regarding tax which are being removed and the tax system is being made more simple and people friendly.”, the PM said, adding that for the convenience of the people, the date of submission of tax returns is being extended till February 27.

He appreciated the efforts of Inland Revenue and Finance Minister Abdul Majid Khan and his team for their significant contribution to the expansion of the tax net in the region. He said that the number of tax filers would be taken up to 100,000 and a special budget would be allocated to the department for public awareness in this regard.

The AJK PM directed the Income Tax Department to conduct an awareness campaign and explain the benefits of taxes to the people by launching a door-to-door drive. He also announced a reward of Rs 20 million for the officers who showed the highest level of performance.

Enumerators training begins in AJK for census: Training of Enumerators (TOEs) regarding the 7th Population and Housing Census conducted by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Planning Development, and Special Initiatives was initiated on Saturday and will continue until January 21 in all 10 districts of AJK. Commissioner Muzaffarabad Masood ur Rehman inaugurated the training session at Govt Boys High School No 1, Muzaffarabad.

After the introductory session, the Commissioner said the census was very important for the proper distribution of resources, and without the cooperation of school teachers, big activities like census and elections cannot be conducted.

He advised the enumerators to understand basic concepts and definitions and pay full attention to the training so that the enumerators may prepare themselves for field operation of the upcoming census.