ISLAMABAD: The new chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has expressed his reservations over an ambitious target of collecting Rs40 billion from traders during the current fiscal year.

Rashid Mahmood Langrial expressed his views about the estimate at a high-level meeting chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb at the FBR headquarters on Monday.

Ali Pervaiz, the Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, also attended the meeting.

A source told Dawn that Mr Langrial asked the representative of Inland Revenue Service to explain how Rs40bn could be collected from traders under the Tajir Doast Scheme this year, even though the head yielded only Rs4bn during the previous financial year (FY24).

Officials at the FBR usually base their revenue collection targets for a certain sector or product on consumption or import value.

Muhammad Aurangzeb is the first finance minister in the country’s history to visit the FBR headquarters every week. Previous finance ministers used to visit FBR offices only once or twice a year.

According to the source, Mr Aurangzeb explained his frequent visits to the FBR by stating that he used to hold weekly managerial meetings in the banking sector. The minister avoided taking the conventional tea at FBR office, instead opting for a special brand of coffee with snacks.

The second topic of discussion was the turmoil following the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court’s order prohibiting the collection of taxes on commodities entering the country from China via the Khunjerab Pass. The Customs representative briefed the finance minister on the latest developments.

The meeting also reviewed the progress in digitalisation of the tax procedure. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has already constituted a task force on digitalisation led by State Minister Ali Pervaiz.

An official statement issued after the meeting said Finance Minister Aurangzeb acknowledged the services rendered by the former FBR chairman, Malik Amjad Zubair Tiwana, especially in the budgeting process and negotiations with IMF.

Mir Badshah Khan Wazir, Member Inland Revenue (Operations), and Mem­ber Customs (Operations), Ashhad Jaww­adm gave presentations about their domain.

The finance minister appreciated the FBR team’s efforts for maximising revenue and broadening the tax base, added the announcement.

FPCCI slams tax notices

The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has condemned the issuance of tax notices of Rs60,000 to small traders and industrial units.

“The business community hopes that the Tajir Dost Scheme (TDS) will help small traders to get registered in the taxation system and get benefits associated with it, and not the other way round,” Asif Sakhi, the FPCCI vice president, said in a statement.

All associations of small traders, small industrial units and shopping centers gathered under the auspices of FPCCI at Federation House, Karachi, on Monday to discuss the “brutal tax notices and unbearable electricity bills” received by the, according to a press release.

Asif Sakhi said tax notices were causing unrest and harassment to small traders and small industrialists.

“They should be withdrawn in the national interest. Small traders want to be part of the system, but they cannot pay unfair taxes.”

The FPCCI vice president called upon the government to renegotiate all agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) and procure electricity for the national grid from cheaper sources without the “string of capacity charges”.

Since over 50 per cent of the IPPs are owned by the government, their power purchase agreements can be restructured easily, Mr Sakhi added.

“Prohibitive electricity charges have led to widespread industrial closures and massive job losses. There is an installed generation capacity of over 40,000MW while the peak demand and transmission capacity is merely 25,000MW,” Asif Sakhi observed.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2024