KARACHI: Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has lauded the performance of the officers of Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) for crossing Rs1.0 trillion revenue collection mark.
Addressing a press conference on Monday at LTU Karachi, Nisar Mohammad Khan said (LTU) had surpassed the Rs1.0 trillion revenue collection mark, which was a big achievement.
“FBR was assigned a revenue collection target of Rs3.104 trillion, and unlike past years there has been no downward revision in this target,” Khan said adding FBR would achieve the target.
Talking about broadening of tax base, FBR chief said the formations were regularly conducting exercises to identify non-filers and the number of filers was ticking.
Khan said FBR was maintaining a comprehensive database and a vigil was being kept on frequent flyers, luxury car owners and property owners etc.
“We have identified a number of persons, who – based on the patterns of their spending – should be return-filers, but they are not; and they are being treated accordingly.”
Laws are being framed to check flight of untaxed money; Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) are all onboard this exercise.
Chairman FBR Nisar Mohammad Khan said there were flaws in the existing rules and laws. “We are working with the assistance of SBP and SECP to frame a set of laws that would help prevent flight of untaxed money.”
Talking about money stashed in offshore accounts/companies at a press briefingon Monday, Khan said FBR could not operate out of the parameters defined by the law.
“There are flaws in the law, which need to be addressed. For instance, the wealth statement does not require taxpayer to mention offshore assets. We are working on it and the recommendations would soon be forwarded to the government.”
To a question, Chairman FBR said government would decide about the timeline for incorporating the joint-recommendations in the law. “It may be included in the next finance bill, or government may implement the same before that.”
Talking about the hardware issues being faced by Pakistan Customs, FBR chief said they were constantly investing in the system and soon, these issues would be removed.