The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was approached by Finance Minister Asad Umar for simplifying the tax return system. The minister asked them to make easier forms with a decreased number of questions.
The minister was addressing an event on which he mentioned, “The amount of questions FBR asks you for your returns is more than those asked when you are accepting a marriage proposal for your daughter.”
While shedding some light on the details, he said that FBR is asked to provide a simple and basic tax system in this budget. He also said that FBR should incorporate its database and make the entire process of filing taxes easy.
“Instructions in Urdu will be available on the website. They will not be hidden in some drawer. We have to create transparency.”
“There should be no doubt that the scheme will be successful when people know they won’t be able to hide when it expires,” talking about the asset declaration scheme that the government was planning to introduce.
He claimed that FBR’s power and capacity have increased drastically to reach those who are not paying the right taxes.
While talking about the International Monetary Fund talks, Umar said that the talks are in its final stage.
The minister told that the loan deal with the IMF will be shared with the public very soon. He also told that IMF, committees of Parliament and Senate were given the policy framework for this loan deal.
The minister stressed over three main economic problems that the country has been facing for a long time. He said, “We are stuck with the fiscal deficit, current account deficit, and saving and investment gap.” He claimed that these problems were the same when he was attending college.
Asad Umar further told that the exports are way less than the required amount of foreign exchange. Moreover, the government is also paying Rs800 billion on interest payments for debts.
However, he assured that Pakistan’s crisis phase is over and right now the country is stabilising and it’s going to take some time to completely stabilise.
