ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) briefed the Chinese delegation on the taxation system of Pakistan.
The delegation showed keen interest in the practices followed by the FBR to make the taxation system more effective and result-oriented. The delegation comprising more than two dozen experts from different departments is on an official visit to Pakistan since March 2. The delegation will stay here until March 11.
FBR Member Nisar Muhammad Khan gave a comprehensive briefing to the Chinese delegation on the Pakistani tax system.
In his briefing, he highlighted the historical features as well as the ongoing process of tax reforms. While mentioning the problems confronted by the tax authorities, he mentioned that taxation was a complex system of more than 70 unique taxes administered by at least 37 agencies.
On completion of the briefing, a question and answer session was arranged and members of the delegation asked numerous questions, most of them pertaining to prospects of investment in Pakistan and possible taxation related to foreign investment in Pakistan.
Interest of the delegation was obviously due to Chinese companies’ mega investments in Pakistan in infrastructure development, communication and energy sector.
In his briefing, Nisar also mentioned that the FBR wants to strengthen ties with China with an objective to learn from the best practices adopted by the Chinese tax authority.
The delegation will interact with different departments and ministries to search for prospects of further accelerating the pace of cooperation.
Matters regarding cooperation in the energy sector were also discussed in a meeting with the Punjab Chief Minister in Lahore. The delegation expressed interest in investing in coal power projects in Punjab.
