ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar on Thursday directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to utilize all legal efforts to meet the tax revenue target of current fiscal year.
He made these remarks at a meeting on matters pertaining to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). He encouraged FBR to ensure that all stakeholders are actively engaged and consulted in the preparation process for the budget. He said that effective measures against tax evasion and for promotion of tax culture would further strengthen revenue generation which is vital for achieving higher, sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the country.
Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on revenue, provided an update to the Minister on preparations for the upcoming budget for FY 2017-18. He said that pursuant to the Minister’s instructions, the exercise to obtain views of business and traders’ community, chambers of commerce and industries, economic experts and other stakeholders was being actively undertaken. He said that FBR was making all out efforts to pursue the tax revenue targets for this fiscal year.
Committee member Asad Umar said that tax collection shortfall had reached Rs180 billion during July-February period of the year 2016-17. Another member of the committee, Abdul Rashid Godil, said the finance minister did not come to the meeting to explain the reason for the tax collection shortfall.
FBR Chairman Dr Irshad told the committee that FBR had collected Rs2046 billion so far in the current financial year, which is 7 percent higher than the collection for the same period last year. He said the government had set a Rs3621 billion tax collection target for the current fiscal year. The committee also considered the outcome of the export package announced by the government in the light of FBR policies.
The chairman of the FBR informed the committee that the FBR was supporting the exporters in this regard. However, the committee strongly recommended that income tax and sales tax refunds should be released to the concerned on a priority basis for improvement in export volume in the country. Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, chairman of the committee, informed the members that business community was facing problems due to delay for release of refunds by the FBR.
