Pakistan to set new tax collection target

Pakistani Tax officials on Friday rejected the Rs1, 952 billion ($22.965 billion) revenue target and vowed to fix a new one in a fortnight, indicating the possibility of levying new taxes at a time when infighting in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is intensifying. The Chief Commissionersí Conference, held here to devise a fresh strategy for the new financial year, decided to prepare estimates based on economic growth, inflation, audit and enforcement and bringing more people into the tax net.A similar strategy failed to give results last year when FBR missed the revenue target by $447.058 million. Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was scheduled to address the conference, but he did not turn up.“At this moment, I do not know what is the tax target, it will be finalised next week by taking input from field formations and that will lead to setting a realistic figure,î said FBR Chairman Salman Siddique.The Revenue Advisory Council had suggested a $22.353 billion target for FBR, an advice if accepted at that time could have saved the authorities from embarrassment just few weeks down the line.The move to abandon the target just after few weeks of the passage of budget in parliament also makes a mockery of the authority of parliament, effectively giving the nationís fate in the hands of a few bureaucrats. The revision of the tax target may also lead to revision of other budgetary targets.An official handout of FBR states that estimating revenues is an interactive exercise involving chief commissioners and FBR beginning with the financial year.The chief commissioners will prepare their revenue estimates based on the rate of inflation, economic growth and their efforts in enforcement, demand creation, audit and bringing new taxpayers into the net. These estimates will be reviewed in the FBR headquarters and revenue estimates for the current financial year will be finalised thereafter. However, an insider said that almost half a dozen chief commissioners challenged the headquartersí assessment of $1.2 billion in illegal refunds. From / Gulf Today