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Islamabad, October 04, 2012 (PPI-OT): Paying government taxes and dues is the duty of every Pakistani and those who pay their dues regularly must be given due respect for discharging their national obligations.
These observations were made by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf during the briefing made by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) which he visited this afternoon. The Prime Minister is visiting various government departments as part of his programme to review their working and performance.
The Prime Minister directed FBR to put extra efforts and intensify its campaign for promoting tax culture in the country. We have to convince the people that “it is beneficial to declare their assets rather than hide them”, said the Prime Minister. “The tax system should be judicious and people should not be taxed beyond their burden” he emphasized.
Expressing his concern over the low tax to GDP ratio in Pakistan which is presently 9.1 percent, the Prime Minister urged FBR officials to come out with an out of the box solution to broaden the tax base. “Our tax to GDP ratio is lower even by regional standards” observed the Prime Minister. The number of tax payers has not kept pace with growth of population in the country, he noted.
Terming the role of FBR as critical, collection of revenue is necessary for running the affairs of the state and financing programmes of development for the prosperity of the country, said the Prime Minister s. Tax collection is an uphill task specially when “no one is ready to pay taxes” he remarked.
Commenting on the importance and role of FBR, The Prime Minister said that its performance has a direct bearing on the entire country. The Prime Minister said that progress and prosperity of the country is directly linked to the efficiency and performance of FBR. If the FBR succeeds in collecting taxes the government will have the space to allocate adequate funds for providing basic amenities, infrastructure development and work for the welfare of the people.
The Prime Minister said that Economy of Pakistan has been under intense pressure because of internal and external factors. Emphasizing on the need for generating more taxes, the Prime Minister said that the sovereignty of the country in intrinsically linked to its financial health.
In response to a proposal made by Chairman FBR, Mr. Ali Arshad Hakeem for grant of BSP 16 to Customs and Inland Revenue Service inspectors who are presently in BSP 14 to boost their morale, the Prime Minister approved the proposal and directed the concerned authorizes for its prompt implementation. He also assured the Chairman FBR for a sympathetic consideration to a proposal for upgradation of the posts of members of FBR.
The Chairman FBR in his presentation apprised the Prime Minister about various proposals presently under consideration to broaden the existing tax base, improve tax collection, simplify procedure, strengthen vigilance and facilitate the taxpayers.
In his welcoming remarks the Finance Minister, Dr. Abul Hafeez Shaikh informed the Prime Minister that due to the successful economic policies of the government, economic indicators including consumer price index, food and non-food inflation, special price index and inflation had shown marked improvement which was now below ten percent.
The finance Minister also informed the Prime Minister that FBR had managed to collect Rs. 350 billion more as compared to previous year and the government had managed to make savings as a result of cost controls by spending Rs. 186 billion instead of Rs.215 billion.
He also informed the Prime Minister that no borrowing was made from the State Bank of Pakistan, instead an amount of Rs. 915.4 billion was returned to SBP. The stock exchange Finance Minister said had touched a record high of 15712 points with an average return of 35% per annum.
The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction over the gradual improvement in the macroeconomic indicators of the economy and hoped that the financial team would continue to make its efforts to keep the momentum in future as well. He appreciated the efforts of government’s finance team who have kept the finance under control through better fiscal management
The briefing was also attended Secretary Finance, Members of the FBR and other senior officials.
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