Budget 2018-19: bodies formed to review reforms, remove anomalies

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has constituted two high-level committees to review reforms in the economic sector and make recommendations to improve the Finance Bill 2018 for removal of budget anomalies. According to a notification issued by the FBR here on Saturday, the federal minister for finance, revenue and economic affairs has constituted Economic Reforms Committee which will review reforms in the economic sector and make recommendations for improvements.
The members of the committee are Syed Muhammad Shabbar Zaidi, Senior Partner and Chairman, PWC; Asad Ali Shah, Managing Partner, Deloitte; Ashfaq Tola, Member Tax Reform Commission (TRC) Committee; Khaliq-ur-Rehman, Managing Partner, Grant Thornton; Abid H Shaban, Member TRC Committee, and Muhammad Aftab Manzoor, Chairman Pakistan Bank's Association.
Through another notification, the federal minister for finance, revenue and economic affairs has constituted an Anomaly Committee which will review the finance bill for FY 2018-19, identify anomalies in the budget proposals and make recommendations for removing those anomalies. The members of the committee are Ghazanfar Bilour President FPCCI; Syed Mazhar Ali Nasir, Senior Vice President FPCCI; Zubair Tufail, ex-President FPCCI; Abdul Qadir Memon, President Pakistan Tax Bar Association; Hafiz Muhammad Idrees, Member Pakistan Tax Bar Association; Muffasar Atta Malik, President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Malik Tahir Javaid, President Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Abdul Samad, President Quetta Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Zahid Ullah Shinwari, President Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Shabbir Hussain Chawla, President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Zahid Latif Malik, President Sialkot Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Sheikh Amir Waheed, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry; and Zahid Latif Khan, President Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
The Economic Reforms Committee has been notified by the FBR to review reforms in the economic sector. The FBR has issued the notification of the Economic Reforms Committee, which gives an impression that the Economic Reforms Committee may deal with the taxation issues and tax reforms. Terms of reference would clarify how the Economic Reforms Committee would be different from Tax Reforms Commission and Tax Advisory Council or Economic Advisory Council.