ISLAMABAD: The government is facing the key challenge of a limited tax base and is firmly committed to expand the tax base for enhancing the revenues exponentially, a senior government official said.

Reviewing the progress on broadening the tax base and integration of retailers into the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) Point of Sales (POS) system during the steering committee meeting, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin commended the efforts made by the members of the steering committee.

He said the government has incentivised the retailers by giving tax credit on electronic cash registers during the Federal Budget 2021/22. The underlying rationale is to give incentives to the taxpayers to broaden the tax base and, at the same time, to take stern action against the tax evaders.

Tarin urged the revenue board to strictly adhere to the timelines and benchmarks and follow-up the whole exercise for broadening the tax base on a regular basis.

The way forward requires use of new technologies, analytical tools and end-to-end automation to broaden the tax base by integrating all the chains/outlets into the FBR’s Management of Information System.

The Minister also directed to gather data by undertaking interim measures such as the mystery shopping exercise to identify anomalies, as well as adding new entrants into the system to yield efficient results.

During the meeting, the Member IT, FBR, briefed the participants about the operational Terms of Reference (ToRs) for integration of retailers into the POS system.

The TORs have been formulated in consultation with the key stakeholders, including representatives from the private sector to have a proper system of check and balance in place, the member IT said.

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