The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is making serious attempts to obtain data on foreign travelers from the Immigration authorities regularly.
Sources told ProPakistani that a presidential Ordinance for the documentation of the economy, lying pending with the Law and Justice Division, would bind the Immigration authorities to transmit data of foreign travelers to the FBR regularly.
Sources said that the FBR needs a regular mechanism for the exchange of information with the banks, Immigration authorities, provincial excise departments/motor registration authorities and land authorities and other government departments. So far, the Ordinance is pending with the Law Division.
Under the draft Ordinance, the Ministry of Information Technology would be given a lead role in the data collection exercise from provinces to broaden the tax base. The data of one million non-filers has been communicated to the field formations of the FBR for registration of new taxpayers and enforced filing of returns.
According to sources, all bank branches have implemented a real-time online/computer-based reporting system and recording of withholding taxes. The withholding taxes deducted are reported in real-time to the head offices of the banks. The head office deposits the tax into the government treasury within the stipulated period.
The banks are regularly filing statements under section (u/s) 165A of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 which contains information of all banks’ clients and the taxes deducted from all such clients. Banks also regularly file statements prescribed under section 149/165 of the Income Tax Ordinance.
It is learned that the caretaker government wanted to make it mandatory for all institutions and departments at federal and provincial levels to integrate their data regularly to register new filers of income tax returns.
The caretaker government analyzed that many departments and institutions at federal and provincial levels are not sharing their data with the FBR in regular and desirable format, making it impossible to convert data into taxability.
The government was considering promulgating an ordinance to document all kinds of financial transactions to broaden the narrow tax base. The FBR identified the departments that are not sharing their data regularly. It raises the need for binding all departments through a Presidential Ordinance seeking data regularly.
Why tax system is not handed over to some reputable international company to make it efficient
It is indeed an excellent suggestion. FBR reputation become too low to gain people trust. From most of their policies the impression came they are making laws to bribe people rather then widening the tax net. Most of their own officials are involved collecting monthly from shopkeepers.
the process of handing over is riddled with stupid, all in all anything that is touched by Pakistani hands is doomed.
FBR talks more do nothing, since so long we are listening this talk and they are still at the same position where they were.
fbr should be dismantled and thrown in the garbage. find some other hullabaloo who can waste national resources.
Certainly this policy will increase income of tax official but will not be able to catch those people who committ tax evasion.
Since last so many years FBR is squeezing those who are in the Tax Net, and frequent attempts to increase the number of tax payers by FBR fails.
So it would be better if FBR be given to someone else to expand the Tax Base, as for example Ports, Airports etc have been leased for 30-35 years in this way corruption will also decrease.