FBR reforms, sleaze-free institutions govt’s priority: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday declared ‘reforms in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and elimination of corruption in the state institutions’ as the top priority of his government.

He was expressing his views in a briefing given to him by Chairman FBR Syed Shabbar Zaidi about the board at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The prime minister said increasing confidence of people in the FBR will help expand the tax net. He also directed the FBR teams, which visit various markets to enhance people's trust, to ensure on-spot recording of their meetings with the business personalities.

He said the FBR had collected Rs579 billion revenue until last month of the current fiscal year showing 14.65 percent increase compared to the previous year.

The chairman said domestic tax collection saw a rise of 28 percent, while addition of 7,83,000 more filers was expanding the tax net.

Zaidi said tax system was being simplified to facilitate shopkeepers and retailers and a mobile application titled "Tax Aasaan" had been launched to facilitate the tax payers.

He said tax forms had been translated into Urdu, while work was underway to transform the FBR website in the national language. Besides, the list of active tax payers was regularly updated so that they would not face any difficulty.

Regarding government’s efforts to enhance exports, Shabbar said a scheme to ensure easy exports had been launched while scanners were being installed at various customs stations. He said customs facility was being provided at the Torkham border round the clock.

He said customs operations will be started at the Kartarpur Corridor in next few weeks. He said online registration of imported mobile phones to check smuggling, ‘Currency Declare System’ at leading airports to declare foreign currency, and ‘Advance Passengers Information System’ were being ensured.

The prime minister was informed that all processes, including registration, issuance of tax certificate, and filing of tax returns, were being automated and computerised to ensure transparency and reduce human contact.

It was said that the FBR had launched ‘Sahulat’ web portal in cooperation with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) through which all information could be accessed online.