ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has surpassed the assigned revenue collection target of Rs2,550 billion set for July-Jan (2020-21) by collecting net revenue of Rs2,570 billion, showing an increase of Rs20 billion.
According to the latest data released by the FBR here on Friday, as a result of reform process, significant improvement has been seen.
The FBR has exceeded the seven month revenue target for FY 2020–21 by collecting Rs2,570 billion against the target of Rs2,550 billion.
This target has been achieved despite the issuance of 80 percent more refunds in comparison with same period last FY (Rs129 billion vs 69 billion for last year).
This has helped the business community in reducing cost of doing business and providing working capital for investment.
In line with the vision of the prime minister as part of reforms agenda, the FBR has placed a lot of focus on facilitation of taxpayers, reducing human interaction, simplification of tax statutes and tax filing procedures through automation, integrity management, enforcement of tax code and policy measures to boost revenue and promote exports through increase in business activity, speedy payment of refunds and drawbacks and better service delivery.
A dedicated portal has been created to manage taxpayer complaints and to provide feedback.
The Large Taxpayers Office (LTO) has been opened in Multan to facilitate large taxpayers.
Moreover, taxpayer registration for sales tax purposes has been enabled on the system (ICT-based sales tax survey).
Simultaneously, on the Customs side, an online import duty calculator has been enabled on WeBOC for the importers/customs agents in order to find the duty/taxes without filing of Goods Declaration.
The Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Program has been launched for trusted trade partners.
This is also part of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) under the WTO.
The FBR has designed simplified income tax returns for individuals and small and medium enterprises (with turnover less than Rs10m).
Auto-calculation and phase-1 of pre-filling of some information has been enabled for individual taxpayers.
Phase-1 of automated income tax refunds has been enabled.
The capability to file appeals through the system has been provided via the e-Appeals module.
Automation of sales tax refunds via FASTER has been further improved.
Similarly, the processing and payment of export duty drawbacks have also been automated.
To broaden the tax base, data from the financial services sector, telecos, utility companies, provincial revenue authorities, local development authorities, provincial excise and taxation authorities, local housing authorities, the Securities and Exchange Commission, NADRA, and the Federal Investigation Agency is being received and integrated to provide a full 360-degree view of all the taxpayers.
A dedicated portal (Maloomat TaxRay) has been launched for taxpayers to view what information the FBR holds about them.
Moreover, the systems used for prosecution, appellate, and alternate dispute resolution systems have been strengthened, revitalized, and automated.
Additionally, on the Customs side, the anti-smuggling and confiscation of goods portal has been enabled for data collection and analysis.
The FBR's Integrity Management Mechanism has been strengthened.
The FBR Head Office and field formations have been restructured to improve efficiency. The Customs Duty concessions and exemptions regime continues to be reviewed and simplified in collaboration with the Tax Policy Board to further improve ease of doing business.
Another positive development has been seen in the number of duty drawback claims processed via Automated Export Duty Drawback payment system.
Since, its official launch in end-December (as of 15 January 2021), 74 percent of all claims (55,790 out of 75,345) have been automated, whilst 71 percent of amount has been remitted, the FBR added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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