FBR chairman says government plans to phase out super tax
Rashid Mahmood Langrial told Korangi industrialists the rate has already been cut by two percentage points, and announced an FBR office at KATI.
KARACHI: The government intends to abolish the super tax and has already cut its rate by two percentage points, Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial told industrialists in Karachi on Wednesday.
Addressing members of the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry, Langrial said work had begun on removing the tax in stages. He said the FBR wanted to improve the tax system and make it easier for the business community to operate.
He announced that an FBR office would be set up at KATI to handle tax problems faced by industrialists in the Korangi Industrial Area. Business Recorder reported that the scope of the FBR help desk would also be extended from Karachi to Sukkur.
Langrial said meetings would be held to settle border trade issues affecting the leather industry, and that the FBR was looking at a model similar to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan for the pharmaceutical sector so that the Track and Trace System works more effectively, Business Recorder reported.
He asked industrialists and the wider business community to work with the FBR to identify and stop tax evasion, saying this would make the tax system more transparent and more effective.
KATI President Sheikh Umer Rehan thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for directing the FBR chairman to visit Karachi every month to address the difficulties industrialists face. He said the economy would benefit if the federal cabinet and ministers also gave Karachi their time, as the FBR chairman had done.
Rehan said proper implementation of the FBR's progressive policies, its faceless assessment system and digitalisation could widen the tax net and lift revenue collection, and could help the government reach its export target of Rs100 billion sooner.
He asked the FBR to keep to the prescribed timelines for refund payments and to strengthen the automated system that disburses genuine, verified refunds. Legitimate claims should not be held back on the pretext of unnecessary audits or documentation demands, he said.
He also called for maximum automation of tax procedures to cut unnecessary contact between tax officials and business representatives, discretionary decision-making and openings for corruption.
How the reports differ
Dawn reported that the FBR chairman had "hinted" at scrapping the super tax, while Business Recorder reported that the government "intends to completely abolish" it. Business Recorder alone carried the extension of the FBR help desk from Karachi to Sukkur, the plan for a DRAP-style model for the pharmaceutical industry, the meetings promised on border trade issues in the leather industry, and the remarks of KATI President Sheikh Umer Rehan.
FBR chief says government plans to abolish super tax
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