Finance Minister for not burdening ordinary people with taxes
Aurangzeb says govt to take tax-to-GDP ratio to 13 percent: FBR to use technology to address graft complaints: Adds despite increase in tax collection this FY, FBR still short of target: Expresses resolve to implement IMF loan programme
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Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Thursday that a common man should not be burdened with taxes, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, with federal ministers and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial sitting alongside him, Aurangzeb said that a taxpayer’s expenditures should be compatible with his income. “We will take the tax-to-GDP ratio to 13 percent in the next three years,” he added.
He further said that the government was committed to meeting the revenue collection target and was also taking steps to bring down inflation.
Aurangzeb went on to say that tax reforms played an important role in the country’s economy.
He said that the Tax Amendment Bill had been tabled in the parliament.
The minister informed that the FBR planned to limit human intervention in tax collection through the use of technology. “This will help us deal with the issues of harassment and corruption taxpayers have to face at the hands of the bureau officials,” he hoped.
He said that the government was examining the value chain of sugar, beverages and cement sectors.
He claimed that compared with the last year, tax collection had increased this year. “However this year, the FBR is still to meet its tax collection target.”
Aurangzeb expressed the resolve that Pakistan would fully implement the IMF’s programme.
Langrial said the FBR’s digitalization was a basic point. “We focus on those five per cent people who are most rich and affluent.”
The FBR chairman informed that of 169,000 wealthy people who had been issued notices, 38,000 had filed their tax returns. “We are monitoring their data,” he said, and added, “These people have paid over Rs370 million in tax.”
Langrial went on to say that production in the sugar industry was being monitored. “There are instances in which action has been taken against the sugar mills’ owners.”
Langrial said that new tools had been introduced in the tax system. “Everybody will have to pay the taxes,” he said, adding, “The FBR is making efforts to make sure that more and more people pay their taxes.”
Minister of State for Finance, Revenue, and Power Ali Pervaiz Malik said that inflation taxed a common man’s purse the most. “If the government wants to overcome inflation, then it will have to overcome deficits,” the minister emphasized.
Ali Pervaiz Malik said that already inflation in the country had dropped from 40 per cent to five per cent. “There is a need to enhance the country’s revenue,” he asserted.
Reporter: Waqas Azeem