The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday said it has launched the first phase of pre-filing of some information enabled for individual taxpayers in the annual income tax returns. In a statement regarding the ongoing reform process, the FBR said that those efforts were bearing fruit. According to the statement, FBR has designed simplified income tax returns for individuals and small & medium enterprises (with turnover less than Rs10 million). Auto-calculation and phase 1 of pre-filling of some information has been enabled for individual taxpayers.The phase 1 of automated income tax refunds has been enabled. The capability to file appeals through the system has been provided via the e-Appeals module. Automation of Sales Tax refunds via FASTER has been further improved. Similarly, the processing and payment of export duty drawbacks have also been automated. The revenue body said that in line with the vision of the Prime Minister as part of its reforms agenda, FBR has placed a lot of focus on facilitation of taxpayers, reducing human interaction, simplification of tax statutes and tax filing procedures through automation, integrity management, enforcement of tax code and policy measures to boost revenue and promote exports through increase in business activity, speedy payment of refunds and drawbacks and better service delivery. As a result of this reform process, significant improvement has been seen. The FBR has exceeded the seven month revenue target for FY 2020 – 2021 by collecting Rs2,570 billion against the target of Rs2,550 billion. This target has been achieved despite the issuance of 80 percent more refunds in comparison with the same period last FY (Rs.129 billion against 69 billion for last year). This has helped the business community in reducing the cost of doing business and providing working capital for investment. A dedicated portal has been created to manage taxpayer complaints and to provide feedback. The Large Taxpayers Office (LTO) has been opened in Multan to facilitate large taxpayers. Moreover, taxpayer registration for Sales Tax purposes has been enabled on the system (ICT based Sales Tax survey). Simultaneously, on the Customs side, an online import duty calculator has been enabled on WeBOC for the importers / customs agents in order to find the duty / taxes without filing of the Goods Declaration. The Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Program has been launched for trusted trade partners. This is also part of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) under WTO. A dedicated portal (Maloomat TaxRay) has been launched for taxpayers to view what information FBR holds about them. Moreover, the systems used for Prosecution, Appellate, and Alternate Dispute Resolution systems have been strengthened, revitalized, and automated. Additionally, on the Customs side, the Anti-Smuggling and Confiscation of goods portal has been enabled for data collection and analysis. The FBR’s Integrity Management Mechanism has been strengthened. FBR Head Office & field formations have been restructured to improve efficiency. Customs Duty concessions and exemptions regime continues to be reviewed and simplified in collaboration with the tax policy board to further improve ease of doing business. Another positive development has been seen in the number of duty drawback claims processed via Automated Export Duty Drawback payment system. Since its official launch in end-December (as of 15 January 2021), 74 percent of all claims (55,790 out of 75,345) have been automated whilst 71 percent of amount has been remitted.