IR-Operations Member Dr Irshad says govt makes courageous decisions to reform tax system
ISLAMABAD: Advisor to PM on Revenue Haroon Akhtar warned that tax evaders will not be spared and everyone who has taxable income will have to pay accordingly.
He was addressing to a tax symposium organised by a non-governmental organisation with title of “Pivotal Role of Tax Administration Reform”. He also said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will not arrest any businessperson.
Haroon Akthar further revealed that the FBR was a department for tax collection and it did not treat anyone as enemy, adding that the FBR did not harassed the taxpayers, but issuing of notices by the board perceived as harassment.
Around five to six thousand billion rupees have been invested in real estate sector, he said, expecting a collection of Rs 100 billion taxes from this sector during new fiscal year 2016-17. The FBR collected just Rs 10 billion from property sector during last fiscal year 2015-16.
FBR Inland Revenue-Operations Member Dr Muhammad Irshad, former finance minister Salman Shah, Standing Committee of National Assembly Chairman Qaiser A Shiekh and economist Saqib Shirani also addressed the conference, while Senator Ilyas Bilour and former FBR chairman Yousaf Abdullah attended the tax symposium.
Member Irshad said that tax system has been divided on geographical basis that will not only boost revenue collections but also improve the tax base. He added that the board has established separate corporate taxpayers units in Karachi and Lahore in order to facilitate the corporate sector.
During the tenure of Pervez Musharraf, when Yousaf Abdullah was serving the FBR as chairman, various reforms were introduced that were beneficial to some extent but it yielded more negative results. These reforms not only brought down the tax collections but also reduced the strength of taxpayers, the member added.
The government also introduced a volunteer scheme under which old taxpayers did not file tax returns during Musharraf’s regime, he said, adding that IR was introduced, besides establishing new offices but all this imposed negative effect on the system.
Now, the incumbent government after reviewing the problems made courageous decisions to bring reforms in tax system which are bringing positive results, Irshad said.
Qaiser A Sheikh said that most efforts were being made to generate revenue but there was need to put focus on investment so revenue collection could be boosted with the development of economy.
Economist Saqib Shirani showed concerns over declining exports, adding that we need to find the reasons of it in order to boost the exports.
