Tola sees Rs 10,000 billion tax potential in country

A member of the Tax Reform Commission (TRC) Saturday said that there is a huge tax potential of Rs 10,000 billion in Pakistan. On the conclusion of a press conference here on Saturday, Member TRC Ashfaq Tola was talking about his personal views on the level of tax potential in Pakistan being member of the TRC.
To a question about level of tax evasion in the country, he said that there is a minimum capacity to increase in taxes to tune of Rs 10,000 billion by improving tax collection from agriculture and retail sectors and withdrawal of exemptions granted through SROs. According to him, 70 percent of the money laundering is taking place in the real state sector. Around 70 percent of the money earned through laundering has been parked in real estate sector.
Due to frequent changes in the FBR and reluctance of bureaucracy, there is a slow pace in implementation of the recommendations of the Tax Reform Commission. There is a fear among bureaucracy for implementation of decisions, which also affected speedy implementations of TRC recommendations. Minister of State on Revenue Muhammad Hammad Azhar has assured the TRC that it is the high time for implementation of the recommendations of the Tax Reform Commission on fast track basis. After budget, the FBR will intensify efforts for the implementation of these short-, medium- and long-term TRC recommendations, Tola added.