Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), owing to the broad range of measures, has been able to raise the number of filers of income tax returns to 1.1 million.

“Measures are being taken to raise the cost of doing business for non-filers to compel them to become part of the tax system,” a top official of the FBR said. The FBR had adopted a broad range of measures and taken steps in recent months to broaden the tax base and increase the tax net, said Rehmatullah Wazir, Member Inland Revenue Policy.

He said this while briefing participants of 105th National Management Course (NMC). “We believe that there is a tax potential equal to Rs 5500 billion to Rs 6000 billion and our efforts are directed to explore all possible possibilities for realising this potential and generating much-needed resources for socio-economic spending,” he said. The board has taken a host of measures to create distinction between filers and non-filers by raising the cost of doing business for non-filers, he added.

Similarly, new perspectives such as creation and maintenance of central data bank, simplification of tax procedures, increased reliance on direct taxes within the tax-mix, minimum tax exemptions and withholding tax, robust audit and more transparency were also being explored to promote a culture of tax compliance, the official said. While speaking on the occasion, FBR Member Customs, Nasir Masroor Ahmed, said the Customs was contributing significantly to overall tax revenue. Pakistan Customs was taking policy measures to deal with challenges in the wake of Intellectual property Rights (IPRs) enforcement, exponential rise in international trade, more sophisticated and demanding clients, heightened security concerns, proliferation of regional trade agreements and compliance to international conventions, he added.