PBC Backs Caretaker Govt’s Move to Split FBR and Customs Department

Pakistan Business Council (PBC) has strongly supported the caretaker government’s policy move to split the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Inland Revenue from Customs department.

According to the PBC tweet on FBR restructuring late Sunday night, the resistance to reforms of the FBR overlooks three other major stakeholders in taxation,

• The Taxpayers
• The government which needs to mobilize resources for socio economic development
• The people of Pakistan who badly need to be lifted from the bottom of South Asia in every key ranking.

Separation of fiscal policy from tax collection will avoid knee jerk short term revenue seeking measures that compromise the long term and undermine predictability; split of inland revenue from customs will enable each to sharpen focus on their domains, deploy automation, prevent smuggling and promote career development of those in the two streams; the oversight boards will strengthen governance, transparency and accountability and protect the system from political interference.

The beneficiaries will be all the stakeholders. Resistance to oversight and accountability should be resisted, BPC added.