ISLAMABAD: No additional financial burden has been put on the marginalised segment of society, while the business community has been provided maximum relied in Budget 2016-17.
This was stated by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Inland Revenue-Policy (IR-Policy) Member Rehmatullah Khan Wazir while giving an interview to Customs Today.
He added that maximum issues of the traders have been resolved in the budget, while remaining will be settled later.
The main issue of refund claims of exporters has also been resolved as zero-rated tax regime has been announced for export sector to help it overcome the liquidity crunch. Not only textile sector, but also leather, carpets, sports and surgical goods sectors are included in the zero-rated tax regime. He informed that stationary sector has not been burden with new taxes, adding that only exemptions to the sector have been withdrawn.
In Pakistan, people avoid paying tax on real income, he said, adding that tax evaders will have to bear full weight of law. Those found involved in concealing real income will face a fine equal to the amount of evaded tax or two-year imprisonment, the member warned, adding that the court might award both punishments at a time to the tax evaders.
Wazir rubbished the rumour that the FBR has record of 3.2 million Pakistanis. He added that the board was collecting the data of people who are living luxury life without paying taxes and also issuing notices to them.
He informed that currently around 1.1 million taxpayers were registered with the FBR out of which 0.309 million were salaried persons. The ratio of taxpayers was increasing 25-30 percent every year, he revealed.
The member hoped to achieve the revenue targets of current fiscal year and added the set revenue targets for next fiscal year were also achievable. He said that around Rs 150 billion would be collected through the additional tax measures taken in the Budget 2016-17.
“There is no provision in the law to investigate the Panama leaks as we cannot investigate the cases more than previous five/six years,” he said, besides informing that a complete law will be introduced to deal with the matters of off-shore companies.
The information-sharing law under double taxation treaty with Switzerland will be upgraded. With becoming the member of Global Forum for Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, it would be easy to become the part of Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the member said.
“Our appellate tribunal system is like other countries of the region i.e. India and Bangladesh,” he said. The FBR was not fully autonomous body as it is a governmental institution, he said, adding that revenue institutions in US, India and Bangladesh were also not autonomous.
The board has introduced a designation of director general of law to handle the cases of income tax and sales tax evasion in the courts but this post was vacant yet, he informed, adding that law directors have been appointed at many places those performed duties of coordination among the FBR, field formations and courts.
“Pakistan is eager to bring transparency in its tax system and place it at par with those of other countries. Our tax systems should be at a level that if anyone approaches seeking details of a taxpayer, it could be obtained by entering just the computerised national identity card (CNIC) number into the system,” he said. Negotiations for Multilateral Convention Assistance in Tax Matters are also underway.
“We are ready to settle the matter of sales tax with all provinces including Sindh,” he concluded.
