SIALKOT: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) official spokesperson and Inland Revenue Member Shahid Hussain has said that the number of computerised national identity card (CNIC) issued by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) will be considered as the national tax number (NTN) by the FBR from the start of the new fiscal year across the country, as both the FBR and NADRA have already inked an accord in this regard.
He stated this while addressing the participants of a tax awareness seminar held at a local hotel in Gujranwala under the auspices of the Pakistan Tax Advisors Association.
IR Member Shahid Hussain said that now the CNIC number would be the NTN from the beginning of the new fiscal year across Pakistan. He stressed the need for expanding the tax net and bringing maximum people in the tax net for economic stability.
He said that early betterment in the tax recovery and collection system could also be helpful in getting rid of foreign loans.
He said that there should be a balance between the expenditures and revenue. He said that this step was direly needed to get rid of foreign loans, as Pakistan takes Rs 1,500 billion to Rs 2,000 billion as loans every year from the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Shahid Hussain revealed that as many as 150 million people in Pakistan have their annual income of Rs 1.5 million, but amazingly, these people were not paying taxes, while most of the collection of sales tax and withholding tax does not go to the national exchequer.
Addressing the participants, Pakistan Tax Advisors Association’s Mian Abdul Ghafar Advocate stressed the need for expanding the tax net, terming it vital to get rid of foreign loans.
Pakistan Tax Association (PTA) Chairman B Javaid Iqbal Qazi, Inland Revenue Gujranwala Chief Commissioner Mansur Ahmed Bajwa, central leader of Pakistan Tax Advisors Association Malik Amjad Pervaiz Advocate, General Secretary Sheikh Ehsan, Lahore Tax Bar Association President Aysha Qazi, Gujranwala District Bar Association (DBA) President Khalid Latif, Zulfiqar Khan, Dr Rafiq Tarar, Qari Habib and others also spoke on this occasion.
