ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Board of Revenue once again assigned apparently unrealistic tax collection targets to its field formations without announcing new tax measures which are essential if they want to achieve the ambitious year-end goal.
In first Chief Commissioners Conference, held after the recent shakeup in the FBR, the Inland Revenue Service was asked to collect Rs1,737 billion in taxes till June 30 next year. This amount is almost 90 per cent of the total annual target. The remaining amount of Rs215 will be collected by the Customs department. This brings the total target for the year to Rs1,952 billion.
These targets have been assigned despite a recent assessment of the Revenue Performance Group, constituted by the finance minister, that with existing revenue measures the FBR can collect a maximum of Rs1,830 billion to Rs1,870 billion.
For the first quarter of the current fiscal (July-September) the IRS has been tasked to collect Rs320 billion. The wing has already collected Rs190 billion in two months and it needs to generate another Rs130 billion at a time when Karachi - the commercial capital of the country, is affected by violence and natural calamities.
During a recent meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance Chairman FBR Salman Siddique had said that the FBR would collect Rs90 billion “through administrative measures” to achieve the annual target - a strategy that has been criticised by the tax experts by taking into account last year’s performance of the FBR.
During the past years the setting of unrealistic tax targets has led to missing of the budget deficit target, putting unnecessary pressure on the economic managers to deliver on these numbers. For the past three years the government has been missing both the revenue and budget deficit targets.
An official of the IRS said that during the conference the Headquarter asked the field formations to plug loopholes and stop illegal refund payments. He said the Chief Commissioners were asked to expedite the post refund audit. The focus should be on broadening of tax base, he added.
The official spokesperson of the FBR, Riffat Shaheen Qazi said that unlike in the past, the FBR has assigned “fluid targets” to the field formations which are based on potential rather than percentage increases. She said internal audit and investigation would be strengthened and special focus will be given on withholding tax monitoring with particular emphasis on the banking sector.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2011.
COMMENTS (4)
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this is my reply for mr a.a khan who declared budget targets 2011 are unrealistic and kms away from pakistan. dear sir please tell me the ratio of tax payers who are giving taxes in pakistan. these are shameless facts what we have to know about. anyhow if fbr works fully and powers are given to officials specially good reputed officers are deputed to audit and revenue rich seats and they are given powers and rights to enforce sales tax by section of sales tax ordinance 40b then no matter what the amount will be. it will be like the ladder made on the head of this page that targets are sky high. and please please controll the wrong elements. income tax union is nothing but grou of black mailers and corruption heads. fbr must control these elements. and people and our leaders who are making there ways fertile must be questioned that why they are supporting these corrupt elements
though it is being discussed in federal board of revenue about the sky high new targets to achieve which are considered impossible but people who says that are ignorant about the current status of people that how much business class is earning and on what percentage they are giving tax. for example there is a huge huge margin in sales tax hare in bahawalpur city but no nominal work done hare to register new tax payers and secondly due to corruption of high official corruption of the lower staff e.g clerks, inspectors , record keepers and from the illegal practices of these government income tax officials every fiscal year there is a shore fall is achieving targets. our region bahawalpur who became region in august 2010 achieves access budget . but due to the corruption of income tax union which is just black mailers and nothing else system temporarily being destroyed hare. thanks to chairman fbr strong parameters are taken against the most highest degree holders of corruption hare in bahawalpur and i hope that as a spokesman of all bahawalpur tax bar association this region will rise INSHALLA.
The media recently made a hue and cry over the fudged figures by FBR. Our media in fact is alive on ever creating unnecessary sensation just to avoid touching the real serious issues. Why so much fuss on these fudged figures as if this had been a very unique case happening first time. There is no denying the fact that our Governments since three decades are thriving merely on "figure work" may that be about inflation, economic growth, manpower export, poverty reduction, "manufacturing and distribution" of justice as found in Annual Reports of our ombudsmen etc. My house got fire three years back so presently I might not be able to trace but I had kept as a souvenir a press clipping of 30th June news papers of that year reading the CBR was behind so many millions in tax collection. The next day 01st July merely after 12-20 hours later the newspapers were showing the CBR had collected so many millions above target.
Recently I made a complaint No. CPD/250711/M/25370 with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority that all of a sudden my mobile on international dialing has started producing a computerized auto-response that this facility (international dialing) was not available to me and the Mobilink was not responding as to why an available and long used facility was blocked/withdrawn. On this while the Mobilink had been in process of seeking unnecessary illogical information from me phase-by-phase not just in one go, the PTA has very proudly informed me that my complaint has been resolved. How the monitoring agency came to know that fault has been removed without my so confirming is a wonder. I am sure it is in line with our today's bureaucratic technique to deal with the public related issues sitting in air conditioned office and thus keep increasing figures of their successful work done which in return ensures extension. This is the same monitoring body which often has triumphed that unregistered SIMs will be closed, so many millions have been closed etc whereas the fact is there is not a single, repeat not a single, "unregistered" SIM in the country.
FBR is evidently located 10 KMs away from Pakistan in Dreamland.
The budget targets it appears are un-realistic and not based on solid economic data. If anything the target should be further lowered due to losses due to flood especially losses to cotton crop.. What is needed is the entire Income Tax Ordinance needs to be abolished and a fresh Direct Tax Code needs to be drafted and enacted.....which should not have exemptions, every income from all sources should be subjected to tax at uniform rate. Even Income Tax Return for the Tax year 2011 has not been put online on FBR website as of today and for a large number of tax payers the extended last date for filing is 30 September 2011.