ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Nisar Muhammad Khan has said that the revenue collection targets set for the first nine months (July-March) of ongoing fiscal year have been achieved.
The FBR chairman revealed this while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs on. He said that it was historic achievement and first time in the country’s economic history that revenue target was not revised.
In the past, it was common practice that revenue targets were revised down ward twice in financial year but this time government has achieved its fixed revenue targets of last 9 months and it was also optimistic to collect the revenue targets fixed for current fiscal year, he added.
He informed the committee that FBR served notices to 300,000 potential taxpayers that were identified by the data of their visit abroad, school fee and purchasing of luxury cars.
So far about 113,000 people filed their tax returns and it was also striving hard to enhance the cost of non-filers in order to expanding the tax base as well as to improve the tax compliance culture. He informed the committee that about one million people were filing their tax returns, adding the government was working to enhance direct taxation and it was enhanced from 30 percent to 40 percent. FBR has also devised a mechanism in order to swift dispute resolution and ratio of complaints also came down from 17,000 to 12,000, he added.
Besides, he said that FBR was also working on budget suggestion for the federal budget 2016-17 to remove the legal obstacles to facilitate the taxpayers. He said the recommendation of the committee was implemented its letter and spirit and computerised national identity card was declared as national tax number.
The committee recommended the FBR to device a mechanism to enforce people to file their tax returns in order to improve tax compliance culture as well as to expend its base. It also recommended the FBR to reduce sales tax on locally manufacture powder milk to encourage the local industry for flourishing the industry.
