KARACHI: Special Advisor to the Prime Minister and State Minister for Revenue, Haroon Akhtar Khan on Monday said that the government intends to review tax structure and that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi wants minimum tax burden on the common man.
‘Prime Minister is very serious to provide relief at individual income tax,’ he said while speaking here at a pre-budget seminar organized by the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF).
President of the PBIF and former chairman of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry Mian Zahid Hussain, former president of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Zakria Usman, President of National Bank of Pakistan Saeed Ahmed, FPCCI’s former senior president Shaukat Ahmed and former vice president Saqib Nisar Magoon, Central Chairman, Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association Shaikh Muhammad Shafiq, President Dadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ghulam Mustafa Solangi and people of different walk of life were present.
The Minister agreed that certain taxes were unjustified and that he would try to convince the Prime Minister, who is the final authority, for the review of different taxes like super tax and tax on shares dividend.
The government’s target was to encourage tax payers to come under tax net and to get ultimate objective of more revenue through less taxes with low rate.
He underlined the need for building strong revenue base for economic prosperity and large scale development in the country, along with establishing influence at regional and international level. ‘We would have to increase tax-GDP ratio to 20 percent at least, which at present was 12.5 percent. But, this could be done only through strong collaboration between Federal Board of Revenue and the business community of the country.
He cited the example of the United States of America, who had built its broad base of revenue and was capable to spend huge funds for fast development of social and economic sectors; also extending financial assistance to many other countries. Thus, he said, it had emerged as the most influential country in the world.
He said that the draft was ready and the Amnesty Scheme would be announced before the coming annual budget if the government got green signal from the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
‘We are waiting for the court’s verdict,’ he re-assured. When his attention was drawn to the difficulty in opening Letter of Credit (L/C) for doing trade with Iran, the Minister of State for Revenue said, unfortunately our banks are hesitant to open their branches in Iran.’
He said that the audit policy required improvement and that once audit of a company was done, next audit should not be done within three or four years. This, otherwise, would create unnecessary harassment among the business community.
He pointed out that many people were dully paying their taxes but were not tax filers for certain reasons. He gave example of government officials who mostly were non filers simply for the reason that income tax was to be deducted from their salaries at source. However, he added, the government would not support this theory. Even the tax filers were found involved in tax evasion at large scale.
He said that it was the need of the hour to fully document economy and this was secret behind the strong economies in the world. Haroon Akhtar Khan said the government had succeeded in setting up certain standards in FBR and these could not reverse by any government in future. He was supportive of FBR officials who were working hard and succeeding in collecting more revenue for the country despite many difficulties and pressures.
He said that the economy of the country had been put on right track and the macro indicators were positive. He recounted the achievements of the present government on social, political and economic fronts. The business leaders spoke of various issues facing different sectors of the economy especially relating to FBR.
