FBR says 70 per cent of corporate sector not paying taxes
The chairman while speaking to the senate’s standing committee on finance said, that the FBR has identified 7,86,000 tax evaders and arrangements are being made to bring them under the tax net. - File Photo.
ISLAMABAD: Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue, Salman Siddique, voiced out concerns in the federal capital today, about the bleak tax collection issue in the country. He raised a concerning issue, by saying that 70 per cent of the corporate sector in Pakistan is not paying tax.
The chairman while speaking to the senate’s standing committee on finance said, that the FBR has identified 7,86,000 tax evaders and arrangements are being made to bring them under the tax net.
The government has been criticized heavily from all lots and has been asked to increase the tax revenue. The chairman added that the federal board of revenue is currently identifying people who have a home, a car and a foreign currency account, but are simply not paying taxes. FBR has claimed to track down such people and bring them to justice.
In the current fiscal year, the FBR has collected 777 billion rupees in the first seven months, whereas they have made tax refunds of 59 billion rupees, according to Salman Siddique.
The chairman also told the committee that in the current fiscal year, Pakistan’s GDP growth rate has been at 2.5 per cent.
The picture drawn by the respected Chairman is quiet correct. We Pakistanis like any citizen of any other country are not curious to pay taxes. But quantum of tax evasion is too much high. We have one of most inefficient and corrupt tax machinery. Millions of dollars have been spent to improve the tax collection system but to no avail. Employees of FBR are drawing double salaries but the output is their own chairman's speech. Clerks of tax departments have became tax advisors and widely indulged in unlawfull activity. There is need to overhaul the system instead of blaming politicans.
It is clear from the statement of the FBR chairman that most of the people who should pay taxes do not pay them. This leads to the burdening of those who pay them. This alll happens under the complice eyes of the political leadership. If the things do not change quickly the Tunisia-Egypt type revolt is just around the corner with ferocious consequences for the country.