ISLAMABAD: The Senate Finance and Revenue Committee, approved the recommendations moved by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) along with some amendments in the Customs Act 1969 and Sales Tax Act 1990. FBR had moved amendments in both the acts just to ease and improve the performance of relevant wings by granting more powers to the concerned officers.
Senate committee met here with Farooq H Naek in the chair to finalize the recommendations for the federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2018-19. Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Tariq Mahmood Pasha told the committee that FBR needed more power for better performance and timely decisions.
At present, he said that Chairman FBR could hire a lawyer up to the fee of one million rupees to contest a case in the superior court; but there was a lengthy procedure for hiring a lawyer at the fee of more than one million rupees.
“In this regard, FBR is required to send a letter to law division and law division is required to get permission perhaps from some other department; therefore, we have moved recommendations in the relevant clause of the law to make the FBR more autonomous in timely decision making” he explained before the committee adding that amendment in the clause 245-C of the relevant act had been proposed.
On the issue of tax on tobacco production, the committee endorsed the recommendation moved by Senator Dilawar Khan that Rs 10 tax should be imposed on production of per kilogram tobacco and this tax must be charged from the tobacco grower. This act would streamline the revenue collection as well as ease the tobacco grower in the payment of the tax.
Finance Committee also approved the recommendation moved by the Senator Talha Mehmood to cap the super tax being collected from people in FATA by fiscal year 2019-20 with observation that this tax should be not charged after next fiscal year. Committee also endorsed reducing the rate of petroleum levy on petroleum products to provide relief to the end consumer
