Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Sunday that robust measures were being taken to improve country’s economy.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said reforms were being made in the FBR and in this regard, weekly meetings were held under the chair of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He said that putting less burden on lower income class was the government’s top priority.
Expressing gratitude to the Chief Ministers of all four provinces for supporting government’s tax reforms agenda, he expressed hope that they would introduce tax legislations for inclusion of Agricultural sector in the taxation regime.
He said without including untaxed and under tax community into tax regime, they could not achieve certainty and ease of collection that is vital for economic stability.
Regarding facilitation to the business community, Aurangzeb said claims worth 68 billion rupees had so far been now refunded. The minister said notices would be sent through a centralized system, while field formations would 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 media to start a campaign against under tax and un taxed community. The minister said the government was also working on the simplification of the tax processes to facilitate the business and salaried persons. Through this simplified process, they would 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 had been short-listed in this regard. He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would take the final decision to this effect.