PM Imran calls for introducing track, trace system to curtail tax evasion

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday stressed the need to introduce a track and trace system to avoid massive tax evasion while chairing a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad.

The premier emphasised that tax evasion is a major problem prevalent in many major industrial sectors such as the sugar, cement, fertilizer, and tobacco industry.

"Only two companies are paying taxes in the cigarette industry whilst forty percent cigarettes are being sold in black," stated the PM.

The prime minister also pointed out that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has been striving to make this transition for the last fifteen years but their efforts are sabotaged every time.

Read: Track and trace system - a test case

"The FBR had assured to roll out the track and trace system by July this year, but now the Sindh High Court has given a stay on it", he further added.

About electoral reforms, Imran said electronic voting machines have become inevitable to ensure transparency in elections. He added that the cabinet should regularly be updated about the progress made towards this end, as well as giving the right of franchise to overseas Pakistanis.

The premier directed the law minister to appraise the high court of the actual situation to get the stay vacated as tax evasion cannot be checked without automation and noted that due to tax evasion, the reliance on indirect taxes leads to a price hike.