LAHORE: The Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) endeavours to enhance its digital capabilities are facing obstacles due to external pressure and inadequate support from the government, said sources.
Despite notable advancements in digitalisation, including the implementation of automated systems and applications, the FBR’s progress is being hindered by external pressures.
The government’s decision to engage international consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to develop a digitalisation road map has raised concerns regarding the necessity of external expertise, given the FBR’s internal IT wing and PRAL’s successful track record in developing and implementing digital solutions.
The establishment of multiple committees and taskforces, including a recently constituted task force led by the Minister of State for Finance & Revenue, has created confusion and overlapping responsibilities, leading to demoting FBR staff.
Experts caution that excessive external interference may result in a counterproductive “too many cooks” scenario, undermining the progress achieved thus far. They emphasise the need for the government to acknowledge FBR’s accomplishments, understand the existing gaps, and provide requisite support to facilitate further digitalization.
According to the sources, the FBR is one of the most digitalised organisations in the country. There is hardly any other public sector organisation that can match the level of complication inherent in FBR’s laws and business processes which makes the process of automation all the more difficult.
The FBR’s digitalisation efforts have yielded significant outcomes, including electronic filing of returns, automated sales tax refunds, and enhanced tax compliance. These are a few of the achievements of the FBR over the past couple of decades in terms of digitalization. The officers are continuously striving to plug the gaps and make improvements in the system. The extent of FBR’s digitalization can be gauged from the fact that currently FBR is managing more than fifty applications in its data centres.
However, challenges persist, including inadequate enforcement and data collection by other organisations and the limitation of FBR’s scope in taxing a substantial portion of the economy.
As the government pursues further digitalisation, it remains to be seen whether the FBR will be empowered to lead the initiatives and build upon its existing successes.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.