The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) launched the Parliamentarians’ Tax Directory for Tax Year 2019 in a special ceremony organized at FBR Headquarters on Monday.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Fayaz Ahmed Tarin, who was the chief guest of the ceremony, formally launched the Tax Directory. Chairman FBR, Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, members and senior officers of FBR were present on the occasion.
In his remarks, Shaukat Tarin congratulated FBR on the publication of the Directory and said, “This is yet another milestone achieved by this government for ensuring transparency and promoting tax compliance.”
He observed that the governments around the world required sufficient revenue for running their respective state affairs, such as the provision of public services, social sector development, and defense, etc. He stressed the urgent need for a fair, equitable, and transparent taxation system to build a unified and prosperous society. “For this purpose, it is necessary that the lawmakers pay their due amount of tax and, thus, set an example for others to also discharge their national obligation,” he underlined.
He recalled that FBR had published the first-ever tax directory of the honorable Parliamentarians for Tax Year 2013 in pursuance of the objectives of setting high standards of transparency and promoting better economic management of the tax system. He said this was greatly appreciated by the media and the public at large. Subsequently, he added, tax directories of Parliamentarians were also published for the tax years from 2014 to 2018, which created a sense of public awareness, motivation, and transparency.
This time, in line with the government’s reform agenda, special efforts have been made to render the Directory clearer and more informative, which will help not only in educating the taxpayers but also in encouraging compliance of tax laws as a national duty, he concluded.
In his welcome address, Dr. Ashfaq, who is also Secretary Revenue Division, highlighted the salient features of Parliamentarians’ Tax Directory. He clarified that the incumbent government had decided to continue the practice by publishing the Tax Directory for Tax Year 2019 after making certain important improvements. “In the previous format, only the amount tax paid by parliamentarians was reflected which caused a lot of confusion,” he explained.
He maintained that additional columns had been added to the Directory, after learning from the past experience and with the prior approval of the government, to show the income under different categories like normal, presumptive, and agriculture.
Chairman FBR asserted that the tax body had tried its best to minimize mistakes, however, in case of any human or technological error, the Parliamentarians could approach FBR for updating their tax record. He announced that the Parliamentarians’ Tax Directory for Tax Year 2020 would also be published in due course.
Source: Pro Pakistani
