Govt will improve tax collection system, says minister

Seminar held on ‘Smart Tax Administration and Development’

LAHORE: The government has decided to mark April 10 as Tax Day every year to raise awareness among people about the importance of paying taxes, Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha said on Saturday.

She was addressing a seminar titled: Smart Tax Administration and Development organised by the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA).

“Increasing the financial resources of provinces is a joint responsibility of the government and the people. Citizens can fulfill this responsibility by paying their taxes,” she said. She said that the Finance Department would launch a web page for redressing the complaints of taxpayers and monitoring of government institutions dealing in tax collection. “This page will be checked on a daily basis. The government is committed to improving the tax collection system,” she said. Addressing the session, Chief Secretary Capt (r) Zahid Saeed said that the government was taking practical steps for bringing improvement and transparency to the tax collection system. “The seminar will help develop consensus on tax policy. There is a need to enhance cooperation among provinces and federal government for improving taxation,” he said. He said that a conference to discuss tax policy should be held every year.

PRA Chairman Dr Raheel Siddiqui said that authority treated taxpayers’ trust as its biggest asset.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2016.