ISLAMABAD: Newly-appointed caretaker Minister for Finance and Revenue, Shamshad Akhtar Friday directed the Federal Board of Revenue to find out innovative ways to document the untaxed sectors.

The caretaker FM visited the Federal Board of Revenue Headquarters and held a meeting with FBR Chairman Malik Amjad Zubair Tiwana and members of the Board to review the revenue collection performance of the FBR. Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal and senior officers from the FBR and Finance Ministry were also present.

During the meeting, the Chairman FBR gave a detailed presentation to the minister about the revenue collection performance of the FBR including the assigned targets for the current financial year 2023-24 and the strategy to achieve them.

Finance minister briefed by MoF officials

He said the FBR was able to collect Rs. 7,169 billion against a target of Rs. 7,200 billion in the previous financial year. The Chairman further apprised that all efforts will be made to meet this year’s collection target of Rs. 9,415 billion.

The Chairman FBR also informed the caretaker minister about the procedural improvements being made to simplify the process of paying taxes in order to facilitate the taxpayers. He also gave an update on important initiatives of FBR including broadening of tax base, Track and Trace System and Point of Sale System whereby efforts are afoot to further enhance revenue generation.

The Finance Minister emphasized on devising strategies to further enhance tax-to-GDP ratio and broaden the tax base to maximize revenue collection. She also called for finding innovative ways to tax the untaxed sectors. The Minister stressed on making all-out efforts to achieve the ongoing year’s revenue collection target.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023