NA Committee on Finance to discuss VAT

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly's Standing Committee on Finance is scheduled to hold a 2 day discussions on the Value Added Tax (VAT) bill from Wednesday, April 28 and thereby give its recommendations on the new law.

Fauzia Wahab will chair the committee, Spokesman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Asrar Rauf told APP. He said that although the bill was tabled before the NA's standing committee in December 2009, however it was still pending for discussions due to heavy engagements of the committee members on the account of 18th amendment bill.

He said that the Senate Committee on Finance has already discussed the new law and forwarded its recommendations adding that the bill would go to the national assembly once the NA's Finance Committee has discussed it.

He said that the Senate Standing Committee on Finance in its recommendations has proposed that the implementation of the law should be deferred till next year and also proposed for reducing the proposed tax ratio from 15 percent to 12.5 percent.

Favouring the VAT bill, Asrar Rauf said that FBR had already held a VAT conference last year in which a consensus was developed that this was the way forward to generate revenues in judicious way. He said that the VAT was industry supportive adding that only middlemen including wholesalers and distributors were opposing the bill for their vested interests.

The spokesman FBR said that once implemented, this mode of taxation would help boarded the tax net and develop a chain for smooth tax collection, besides helping the documentation of the economy. He said that at least 140 countries around the globe having tax to GDP ration more than Pakistan were utilizing this mode of taxation saying that this would help Pakistan to generate revenues in appropriate way.

He said that the VAT was in operation even in South Africa and that country had benefitted from this system of revenue collection. He expressed the hope that after the its approval from the parliament and its implementation of VAT the country would be able to generate more revenues for the prosperity of the country.