Task Force on digitalization of FBR decides to take members from SECP, SBP, Commerce Ministry

The first meeting of the Task Force on Digitalization of Federal Board Revenue (FBR) was held on Tuesday at FBR Headquarters which was chaired by Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervez Malik and co-chaired by DG C41, Major General Syed Ali Raza, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The meeting was also attended by FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial, Members and other senior officers of the Board along with Task Force members. In his opening remarks, the statement minister said the prime minister has constituted the Task Force to submit recommendations to completely digitize all the systems of FBR.

He said if the country needs transition to a more inclusive and sustainable growth then end-to-end-digitization of FBR is imperative. He explained that the ultimate goal of the Task Force was to formulate such policy interventions that can improve the efficacy of FBR to further build up revenue streams for the country.

Speaking on the occasion, DG C41 said that the end result of the reform agenda of the government was to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio of the country for enhanced revenue generation. He emphasized focusing on implementing the various initiatives to achieve fruitful results.

FBR chairman said that the Revenue Division is committed to maximizing revenue through the implementation of data automation and software solutions and urged committee members to come up with practical recommendations to achieve the given task. He stressed the need for integration of systems and deployment of new systems to modernize the tax agency enabling it to achieve its future targets.

On the occasion, Ali Malik from McKinsey gave a comprehensive presentation on the progress that has been made towards digitization of FBR. He explained that the firm is focusing on two major areas. First is the overall digitization of FBR and the second is to identify and implement quick wins.

This was followed by a detailed discussion on the Terms of References (TORs) of the Task Force which included data sharing both vertically with the provinces and horizontally across ministries, supply chain automation, track & trace system through integrated system.

The Task Force decided to co-opt members from SECP, State Bank, Ministries of Commerce, and Foreign Affairs, and invite them to future meetings. Four Working Groups were also set up to further deliberate upon the Terms of References assigned to each Working Group.

The Working Groups will prepare draft recommendations in their respective areas and share the same in the next meeting of the Task Force to be held on August 21.

Reporter: Waqas Azeem