ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has said that the PTI government has completed its first phase of tax reforms and decided to go after around 100 big tax defaulters to recover much needed revenue
Addressing a press conference on Thursday after meeting of the federal cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Fawad said that the cabinet had decided to take action against 100 big tax defaulters. “The government will be launching a major operation soon against 100 major FBR (Federal Board of Revenue) defaulters”.
“The first stage of reforms in the FBR has been completed and details in this regard will be provided by Finance Minister Asad Umer next week,” he said.
To overcome the prevailing financial crisis in the country, he said, the government had set up the Financial Action Task Force and appointed Mansoor Hussain Siddiqui the director general of the financial monitoring unit at the State Bank of Pakistan. Earlier the post was non-existing in the department.
He said former Justice Abdul Rauf had been appointed the new chairman of the Wage Board to decide within 120 days the matter of low and untimely-paid wages of journalists.
He said the cabinet also declared that an anti-encroachment drive would be launched in Karachi to reclaim large swathes of land belonging to the Karachi Port Trust and the Pakistan Railways. “We are heading towards Karachi after getting vacated 6,000 kanals of state land in Islamabad,” he added.
The minister said that the federally and provincially-administered tribal areas, which were previously being run under independent systems outside the jurisdiction of Pakistani laws, would continue to enjoy tax amnesty for five years.
“This means that these regions will continue to enjoy the use of non-custom paid cars up to June 30, 2023. Similarly, residents (of the tribal areas) will be exempted from paying sales and withholding tax,” he added.
