ISLAMABAD: The Vice President World Bank (WB) Martin Raiser on Wednesday visited Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and met with Chairman FBR Amjed Zubair Tiwana. He was accompanied by Country Director Najy Benhassine, Operations Manager Gailius J Draugelis, Haque Lead Country Economist , Tobias Akhtar and Public Sector Specialist Ms. Irum Touqeer, said a press release issued by the FBR.
Member Reforms and Modernization FBR Ardsher Saleem Tariq and Member Digital Initiative Karamatullah Khan Chaudhry also attended the meeting.
A detailed presentation on the FBR and its reforms agenda was made with special focus on initiatives under Pakistan Raises Revenue Project for harmonization of sales tax, track & trace system and improving Information Communication Technology (ICT) capacities of FBR.
Vice President World Bank was appreciative of the FBR’s policy for digitalized tax administration and emphasized that these initiatives will bear even greater fruits if coupled with elimination of exemptions overtime through a combination of social assistance and introduction of sales tax based on consumption.
Martin Riser echoed the sentiments of Chairman FBR and indicated that World Bank sees the current digitalization drive as an opportunity to strengthen its cooperation with the FBR.
Speaking on the occasion, Amjed Zubair Tiwana said that the FBR is working closely with all the stakeholders on the digitalization initiative and making tax administration more broad-based. He said that that digitalization is not only important for revenue but for enabling FBR to make informed decisions for sustainable increase in the revenues.
