ISLAMABAD: The Finance Ministry has been pursuing a comprehensive tax reforms program in order to reduce dependence on foreign loans through generation of adequate taxes.
Moreover, the Finance Ministry is also optimistic that Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) with Afghanistan and China will check under invoicing as well as Computerized Risk-based Evaluation of Sales Tax (CREST) and Sales Tax Real-Time Invoice Verification System (STRIVe) will be helpful for risk based analysis of sales tax returns.
A source at the Finance Ministry told Customs Today that the ministry has been pursuing a package of measures to stabilize and strengthen the national economy endogenously instead of obtaining foreign loans to meet the financial crunch.
The source said that now the government had increased macroeconomic stability and GDP growth to a significant level and maintained above 4% in the last 3 years as well as reduced the reliance on foreign loans through domestic resource mobilization, prudent expenditure management.
The source added that fiscal consolidation trough social safety net and development spending had not only protected but enhanced considerably. Broadening the tax base, restructuring the public sector enterprises, building foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate stability, containment of inflation as well as overcoming energy shortages have also been achieved by dint of the said measures.
To a question about steps taken for increasing revenue collection, the source said that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had been made more active for broadening of tax base by strengthening Tax Audit through empowering FBR to withdraw SROs.
Similarly, the source said that risk based sales tax registration system, roll-out of WeBOC and a few other measures had also produced very good results in transparency in refund payments, integrated transit trade management system as well as capping smuggling.
