Growth in number of taxpayers has been witnessed
Farzana Ali Khan
ISLAMABAD:Prime Minister Imran Khan was told Sunday that tax receipts had surpassed Rs2205 billion during first six months of current fiscal, manifesting the fruition of government’s taxation reforms. Chairing a meeting to review the tax reforms, the PM was briefed that owing to tax reforms, a growth in number of taxpayers had been witnessed. Federal Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Shibli Faraz and Hammad Azhar, Advisor to PM Dr Ishrat Hussain, Special Assistant on Revenue Dr Waqar Masood, Chairman of Federal Board of Revenue Javed Ghani and relevant senior officers attended the meeting. It was said that the tax collection was being automated and taxpayers were given incentives. The automation of the taxation system would enhance transparency and reduce corruption and tax evasion. The PM was further informed that the tax form had been made far easier for the small and medium enterprises by reducing its pages from five to one and entries from 200 to 24 only. The prime minister was told that owing to the introduction of direct link between FBR’s system and company through Point of Sale (POS) System, the receipt of Sales Tax had also increased. Prime Minister Imran Khan appreciated the federal ministers, SAPM on Revenue and FBR chairman for bringing about taxation reforms. He viewed that the taxpayers were in fact the benefactors for the country who deserved applause. Moreover, he also called for measures to introduce measures for encouragement of the taxpayers.