Measures being taken to include middle class in tax net: FBR chief

Due to presumptive tax regime, we actually dissociated the taxation from the economy

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi on Friday said that the condition of CNIC has been enforced on purchase of above Rs50,000.

Speaking at a seminar in Islamabad on Wednesday, he said that priority of the government is to enhance the tax net and expend tax base to documenting the country s economy, adding that taxation is the only way to forward for equitable distribution of wealth, as "we cannot have stabilized and equitable society unless we have a fare taxation system.

The FBR chairman said that due to presumptive tax regime, we actually dissociated the taxation from the economy, where taxing the real income was out of question.

The incumbent government and the International Monitory Fund (IMF) are on the same page, as there was no disagreement by the government on the measures proposed by the IMF, especially the taxation measure, he said.

Zaidi went on to say that the government would not bow down against the pressure, protests and lame excuses of the businesses and industries.

He further said, "We are trying to make Pakistan good for everyone." Over the decades the policies of the successive governments make Pakistan a trading state rather a sami-manufacturing state, where "we are importing everything from mineral water to foods items and never worked-out on import substitution." While raising the concerns over the open transit trade agreement with Afghanistan, he said the agreement was being exploited and abused by the smugglers which negatively impacted the local industry.

Pakistan needed to review this agreement and should take stringent measures to control illicit trade on Pak-Afghan border, he said. There are around 100 thousand companies registered with the government of Pakistan, where only 60 thousands file their returns, which shows the level of tax compliance.

He said the measures taken in the current federal budget would fundamentally change the course of history of Pakistan. The government was taking steps to redress the institutional corruption through automation of the taxation system, the Chairman FBR said.

Zaidai said that it is his responsibility to improve the tax base under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

"Hawala" and "Hundi" have inflicted a huge loss on the country s economy,” he said and added measures were being taken to include the middle class in the tax net.