Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwa’s claim that his department has achievedthe desired targets, including tax collection and broadening of tax net, auspicatesthe emergence of a strong financial order in the coming months. According to him, at least 40,000 new taxpayers have been registered and the government is prepared for the fifth assessment of the economy with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He says that in case of low tax recoveries, the government and parliament will decide whether to impose new taxes or not and it is not his prerogative to decide anything in this regard. During is informal chat with the journalists after attending the international investment conference in Islamabad, he also says that the FBR is smoothly going ahead with its plan to achieve the tax collections target while the shortfall of Rs 20 billion will also be filled during the next quarter of the current fiscal year.
Bajwa also says that work has been started to introduce investment-friendly tax system in the country and that work on tax reforms is also under process. The ratio of corporate tax has been curtailed from 35 percent to 33 percent and it will be further slashed to 30 percent. Tax relaxation is available for food processing and packaging units in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir for five years. A 10-year income tax exemption has been given to the businessmen who will invest in the Gwadar Industrial Zone whilethe power plants, which will be installed to produce electricity from coal, are exempted from any type of taxes and duties.Tax credit facility is also available to restore the sick industrial units.
It is a good omen that an effort is being made to restore the confidence of the local and foreign investors on the economic policies of the government. Pakistan can become the hub of the international trade if issues such as the law and order and energy shortage are resolved. After assuming his office, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had said that his first, second and third priority is business, business and business. All the other political forces should also join hands with the government to extricate the country from the present economic mess.
