Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said Sunday that the government is taking robust measures to improve the country’s economy.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said reforms are being done in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to increase revenue collection.
He said weekly meetings are being held under the chair of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He said that putting less burden on the lower-income class is the government’s top priority.
Expressing gratitude to the Chief Ministers of all four provinces for supporting the government’s tax reforms agenda, he expressed hope that they will introduce tax legislation for the inclusion of the Agricultural sector in the taxation regime.
He said without including the untaxed and under-taxed community in the tax regime, we cannot achieve certainty and ease of collection which is vital for economic stability.
Regarding facilitation to the business community, Aurangzeb said claims worth 68 billion rupees have so far been now refunded.
The Minister said notices will be sent through a centralized system, while field formations will be authorized to collect taxes accordingly.
Mentioning the details of tax evasions and frauds, he said we have identified a tax potential worth 600 billion rupees that was not collected, out of which one billion rupees has been recovered so far.
In customs, through misclassification, tax worth around 50 to 200 billion rupees has been identified.
He urged the media to start a campaign against the under-tax and un-taxed community.
The Minister said the government is also working on the simplification of the tax processes to facilitate the business and salaried persons.
Through this simplified process, they will be able to respond to our system in a very simple and easy manner without the involvement of any tax consultant.
Stressing the importance of rightsizing, the Minister said five ministries, including Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, SAFRON, Industries and Production, IT and Telecom, and Health have been short-listed in this regard.
He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will take the final decision to this effect, he said.