ADB, FBR teams review progress on reforms

ISLAMABAD: The delegations of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Asian Development Bank reviewed the progress on the reforms being carried out in collaboration with the ADB and the issues and challenges being confronted for effective implementation, a statement said.

The FBR team was led by its chairman Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed and the ADB team was headed by United States alternate executive director John Hurley, who was accompanied by ADB country director Yong Ye, principal energy specialist Asad Aleem, executive director Noor Ahmed, senior project officer financial sector Sana Masood, senior project officer infrastructure Khurram Ghafoor and senior economist Farzana Noshab.

Member (Customs Operations) Syed Muhammad Tariq Huda, Member (IR Operations) Qaiser Iqbal, Member (Reforms) Ambreen Iftikhar, chief FATE/director (Media) Muhammad Asad Tahir and project director (PRR) Nadeem Basheer were also present in the meeting.

At the very outset, the progress on Integrated Transit Trade Management System (ITTMS) was shared with the ADB delegation.

Giving specific details about the Customs trade facilitation at the border crossing points, the FBR team said facilitation of multi-agency administration and round-the-clock operationalisation and establishment of well-equipped import and export Custom Control Zones (CCZs) at the border crossing points have been ensured.

Regarding Customs trade harmonisation at the border crossing points, it was briefed that the least possible human interface between the entry and exit points has been ensured for an enhanced trade facilitation.

Moreover, WeBOC has been integrated with the Pakistan Single Window (PSW) for real-time data sharing with the relevant stakeholders.

The meeting was also informed that the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is also being shared with the regional economies and trading partners. Speedy electronic verification of documents, clearance, weighing and scanning has expedited cross-border cargo movement under the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) for reducing the cost of doing business.

During the meeting, the progress on tax administration diagnostic assessment tool (TADAT) was also shared with the ADB team.

The visiting delegation was informed that the FBR has launched the formulation of Inland Revenue code in a bid to harmonise all the inland taxation laws and maximise facilitation of the taxpayers.

The single Inland Revenue code will reduce the implementation cost of the revenue board and reduce compliance cost for the taxpayers.

The ADB team was also apprised of the broader revenue mobilisation initiatives of the revenue board, particularly in the realm of Pakistan Raises Revenue Programme (PRR).

The meeting was informed that the FBR was on its way to achieve objectives of the programme for simple and transparent tax system, effective control of taxpayers’ obligations and facilitation of compliance and institutional development for efficiency and accountability.

The FBR chairman dilated upon the key initiatives of the revenue board, which included e-monitoring (Track and Trace System), point of sale (POS) integration, establishment of single sales tax portal and similar other technological initiatives.

He also reaffirmed that the FBR team has done wonderfully well in the last financial year by exceeding the assigned revenue target of Rs4.691 trillion and it had already collected Rs235 billion in excess of the assigned budget for the first four months (July-October 2021), achieving a commendable growth of 36.7 per cent.

Dr Ahmed said that for the first time-ever in the FBR history, the country’s premier revenue collection organisation has adopted a policy of clean revenue collection by not holding back a penny in refunds payable to the taxpayers and not accepting any advances, as against the standing practices in the past.

The ADB team appreciated the FBR’s efforts to maximise revenue potential through automation and digitalisation and expressed the hope that the FBR will continue to maintain its ongoing momentum to broaden the tax base through technology and; thus, collect maximum revenue for the people of Pakistan.

At the end, the FBR chairman thanked the visiting ADB delegation and reassured them of full cooperation in ensuring smooth bilateral engagement between the two organisations.

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