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