Broadening tax base: Govt focusing on documentation of economy, says Tarin

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched an Automated Currency Declaration System (ACDS), which would be installed at all airports of the country to avoid the smuggling of dollars and other currencies. The FBR achieved significant milestones towards automation and data integration in order to facilitate the taxpayers and passengers flying in and out of the country.

Federal Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin presided over the launching ceremony at the FBR (HQs), Islamabad, as the chief guest. Chairman FBR/Secretary Revenue Division Dr Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, Chairman NADRA Tariq Malik and DG FIA Sanaullah Abbasi were present on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering comprising all FBR members, dignitaries, senior officers and media representatives, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin congratulated the chairman FBR and his team for making this long-awaited initiative possible in a short period of time.

He said the government was focusing on the documentation of economy to broaden the tax base. “This aim can only be achieved through the use of technology and automation with review of existing procedures and processes,” he said, adding the inter-agency coordination and cooperation was sine qua non for the success of all efforts of the business process re-engineering and adoption of new framework for the implementation of rules and regulations. “To achieve the goal of documentation of economy and to bring more transparency in the economic transactions, documentation of flow of foreign currency in and out of the country is pivotal,” he continued.

Presently, the Currency Declarations (CDs) are obtained randomly from passengers coming to or going out the country through airports. Currency Declarations are manually secured in the shape of hard copies and are then entered into the system manually in batches. For millions of passengers coming in and going out from the country, it is an uphill task, especially, with very little resources in comparison with the challenges faced by the Pakistan Customs and other Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs).

Since the current Currency Declaration System (CDS) was not working to achieve the goal of complete documentation of foreign currency movement, a new system was envisaged by FBR. This digital system was developed with the assistance of NADRA and FIA and will now be deployed at all international airports, starting from the Islamabad International Airport. “This new system will be hassle free and time-saving, one stop solution for all incoming and outgoing passengers,” the finance minister remarked.

The FBR is also working to secure data from banks and the State Bank of Pakistan, along with integration of Currency Exchange Companies with POS. This will culminate into greater visibility and capturing information which could then be used for analysis or audit purposes.