ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), in collaboration with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), has launched a one-window facility for the registration of a company and the national tax number (NTN). This step has been taken as part of easing the doing of business process in the country as well as to reform the taxation system for both domestic and foreign companies.
Through this facility, the entrepreneurs will login to the SECP online portal eServices, get their company registered with the SECP and will receive the NTN automatically at the company’s email address.
The facility has been launched to simplify procedures for business registration, to eliminate the hassle of visiting various government agencies and to ensure an expeditious service delivery by integrating the registration procedures of the SECP and FBR.
This facility shall have favorable implications for investment promotion to attract investors from within and outside the country, and contribute to documentation of the economy. It is also likely to achieve higher ranking in the World Bank’s starting-a-business and the composite doing business indicator.
Member (IT) FBR Khawaja Adnan Zahir and SECP Chairman Zafar Abdullah jointly inaugurated the system during the launch ceremony held here. Senior officials of SECP, FBR, BOI and PRAL were also present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Khawaja Adnan Zahir said that the FBR was pleased to collaborate with SECP to provide conducive environment for doing business in Pakistan. This is the first instance of government-to-government technical integration at the process level, he added.
He further said that the creation of a cross-institution single process of registration of a company was the first step and the efforts should be continued to include more organizations. A lot more can be achieved if government organization work in such close coordination.
Zafar Abdullah congratulated the teams of SECP, FBR and PRAL on putting in exhaustive efforts to develop the system. The SECP has undertaken a host of reform measures, which have resulted in a robust corporate growth in the country, leading to formalization of the business sector and documentation of economy, he added.
Executive Director General Board of Investment (BOI) Fareena Mazhar lauded the efforts of the SECP and FBR for their doing business reforms and stressed that these reforms would not only help the local entrepreneurs but would also serve as an attraction for foreign investors.
A video recording based on live company and NTN registration process, which was recorded at the SECP’s Company Registration Office, was also shown to the participants. The one window facility is based on back-end integration between SECP and FBR systems.
