Daily Times

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi on Tuesday placed restrictions on official raids against taxpayers.

According to an FBR notification, prior approval of the IR-Operations member and the chairman would be required to conduct any raid. “If there is evidence of economic transaction(s) which are chargeable to tax and the organisation/entity is not a registered person, then the officer will report it to the IR-Operations member and the FBR chairman, who will provide necessary direction for future course of action,” stated the notification.

The notification also prohibited the suspension from Active Taxpayers’ List unless there was personal interaction with CEO/owner of the business 24 hours before the suspension. The list of all such cases will be sent to the FBR chairman and the IR-Operations member along with reasons for the suspension and evidence of personal interaction.

Last week, the FBR chairman Shabbar Zaidi had directed staffers of the revenue authority not to harass tax filers.

Talking to the media, Zaidi had said that no date had yet been finalised for the budget. “We will only do what would be better for Pakistan.” Zaidi also vowed to end corruption in the revenue authority’s tax collection. He has said that tax percentage in the GDP would be increased and all possible efforts would be made for a taxpayer-friendly FBR. Zaidi said he would utilise the services of present staff of the revenue authority.

FPCCI head, office-bearers call on Shabbar Zaidi, praise his decisions

Separately, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) president Daroo Khan Achakzai, Abdul Waheed Sheikh, Ijaz Khan Abbasi, Qurban Ali and Shireen Arshad Khan visited the office of Shabbar Zaidi to congratulate him on assuming the office.

During the meeting, the FPCCI president discussed various measures and proposals particularly for enhancement in number of taxpayers and to increase their confidence level to achieve the set targets of revenue. Achakzai further said that misuse of powers by the tax authorities had created a trust deficit and lack of confidence.

The FPCCI chief hailed the prompt decisions taken by the FBR chairman in facilitating and providing relief to the taxpayers.

Moreover, the FPCCI president also appreciated the FBR chairman for not suspending any active taxpayer from the Active Taxpayers’ List without due representation. The FPCCI president also lauded Zaidi for not freezing bank accounts without prior intimation and notice to the bank account holder.

Achakzai invited the FBR chairman to visit the FPCCI Headquarters at Karachi and its Islamabad office to discuss FPCCI’s budget proposals and to share their vision to revamp the tax system and machinery.

The FBR chairman agreed to visit the FPCCI offices to receive feedback and first-hand information from FPCCI members and inform them about the FBR’s stance.