ISLAMABAD, AUGUST 13: The Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) new chairman has voiced his misgivings about the aggressive goal of collecting Rs. 40 billion from traders in the current fiscal year. During a high-level meeting on Monday at the FBR headquarters, which was presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Rashid Mahmood Langrial shared his opinions regarding the estimate.
The meeting was also attended by Ali Pervaiz, the Minister of State for Finance and Revenue. According to a source who spoke with Dawn, Mr. Langrial questioned the Inland Revenue Service representative about how Rs40 billion could be taken from traders this year under the Tajir Doast Scheme when the head only produced Rs4 billion in revenue the year before (FY24).
The FBR often bases its revenue collection targets on import value or consumption for a particular product or sector.
The first finance minister in the history of the nation to visit the FBR headquarters once a week is Muhammad Aurangzeb. Former finance ministers would only make one or two annual trips to the FBR offices. The insider claims that Mr. Aurangzeb used to conduct weekly managerial meetings in the banking industry as an excuse for his frequent trips to the FBR. The minister chose to have a unique type of coffee with nibbles instead of the traditional tea at the FBR headquarters.
The unrest that followed the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court’s ruling banning the collection of taxes on goods entering the nation from China through the Khunjerab Pass was the second topic of debate. The finance minister was briefed on the most recent developments by the Customs representative.
The status of the tax procedure’s digitalization was also discussed at the meeting. A task team on digitalization, headed by State Minister Ali Pervaiz, has already been established by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Finance Minister Aurangzeb welcomed the assistance provided by previous FBR chairman Malik Amjad Zubair Tiwana, particularly in the budgeting process and IMF negotiations, according to an official statement released following the meeting.
Presentations regarding their respective fields were given by Member Inland Revenue (Operations), Ashhad Jawwadm, and Member Customs (Operations), Mir Badshah Khan Wazir.
The release also stated that the finance minister was grateful for the FBR team’s efforts to increase revenue and widen the tax base.
Tax Notices Are Slammed by FPCCI
The issuing of tax notices of Rs60,000 to small traders and industrial establishments has been denounced by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
The FPCCI vice president, Asif Sakhi, stated in a statement that “the business community hopes that the Tajir Dost Scheme (TDS) will help small traders to get registered in the taxation system and get benefits associated with it, and not the other way around.”
According to a news release, all associations of small traders, small industrial units, and shopping centers convened at Federation House in Karachi on Monday under the direction of the FPCCI to discuss the “brutal tax notices and unbearable electricity bills” that they had been receiving.
According to Asif Sakhi, tax notices are upsetting and harassing small business owners and dealers.
“In the interest of the country, they ought to be removed. Small business owners desire to be a part of the system, yet they are unable to pay unjust taxes.
The FPCCI vice president called upon the government to renegotiate all agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) can obtain power from less expensive sources for the national grid without having to pay a “string of capacity charges.”
Restructuring the power purchase agreements of IPPs is simple because the government owns more than 50% of them, Mr. Sakhi continued.
“Massive job losses and widespread industrial closures have resulted from prohibitive electricity rates. While the peak demand and transmission capacity are only 25,000MW, there is an installed generation capacity of approximately 40,000MW, Asif Sakhi noted.
