ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Tariq Bajwa and his team extended their stay by two day in the US as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank want to know the FBR’s strategies regarding the broadening of tax net and increasing revenue collection for the future.
Earlier, they were supposed to return home along with the finance minister who rushed back to the country on Monday in the wake of the Chinese president’s visit to Pakistan. However, a well-placed source at the FBR informed that Bajwa and his team members had to extend their stay.
They added that the IMF and the WB sought more details about the future plans of the taxing authority to enhance the tax net and collection.
To present the plans and strategies before world financial institutions, Bajwa has asked authorities concerned of the department in Pakistan to send relevant data via email, sources said.
Bajwa has also asked the department to send the record of the current fiscal year 2014-15 and last fiscal year 2013-14 pertaining to the withholding tax and customs duty collection.
The FBR’s team briefed the IMF/WB that the department could not achieve the estimated growth of 15-17 percent so far in revenue collection, adding that the department has marked 13-15 percent growth in this regard.
The FBR has issued 240,000 notices to potential taxpayers to bring them into the tax net, the team informed the IMF and WB.
