Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Friday that fully digitalised taxation system is imperative to eliminate leakage in addition to enhancing collection without creating any hassle among taxpayers.
Digital tax reforms imperative to boost revenue without raising tax rates: finance minister
FAISALABAD, Jul 03 (APP): Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Friday that fully digitalised taxation system is imperative to eliminate leakage in addition to enhancing collection without creating any hassle among taxpayers.
Addressing the business community at Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), he said that it is not a post-budget conference but actually it is the beginning of preparation for the budget for FY2027-2028. He said that finance division is responsible for budget preparation while Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would look after the matters of tax administration and tax collection only. He underlined the importance of private sector and said that it has to lead the economy to put Pakistan on growth trajectory.
About financing, he said that interest rate has been trimmed from 22 per cent to 11.5 per cent. “It could be further brought down if Iran conflict is resolved immediately”, he opined. About funds allocated for exporters in budget, he said that it is the only incremental amount while more concessions would be doled out to them in the next budget.
Quoting electricity tariff, he said that all cross subsidies have been eliminated which would further bring down the rate of electricity. He said that discussion was continuing on taxation and as its result, advance and super taxes have been eliminated.
He appreciated the performance of nestling IT sector and said that it has made exports up to 4.5 billion and now government is trying to provide them an efficient eco system. He further said that government is encouraging construction sector but the system for the sale and purchase of files would not be allowed.
About automation, the federal minister said that record of every individual is available with NADRA and FBR which would be integrated to eliminate leakage of taxes.
He said that the process of digitalization has been started from sugar sector through which government collected an additional 60 billion sales tax.
He said that new medium term tax strategy would be introduced for the SME sector which would give substantial relief in tariff regime to this segment.
He further said that regulatory duty and advance tax have been eliminated on import of agricultural machinery.
He underlined the disastrous impact of population explosion and urged upon the business community and chambers to play their role in controlling unbridled population.
He further said that no compromise would be allowed on national security. However, regional trade may witness a positive trend after the resolution of Iran conflict.
Similarly, he was trying to get maximum tariff relief from America which would help Pakistan to enhance its exports to this country, he added.
He directed his staff to negotiate with MD National Tariff Commission to impose anti dumping duty on imports which were hampering domestic production.
He said that all concerned stakeholders and FCCI representative would be taken into the loop to resolve the issue amicably.
He further said that he would talk to the Governor State Bank of Pakistan to allocate a separate and dedicated amount for the SME sector to cater to its financial needs.
Earlier, President FCCI Mr. Farooq Yousaf Sheikh in his address of welcome said that most of our recommendations have been accepted while negotiations are still continuing on the pending issues.
He clarified that chambers and government are two wheels of the same car as their interests are identical and hence there should be no conflict between them.
He said that earlier, FCCI was ignored in budget formulation but this year almost all stakeholders have been taken into the loop.
He said that this consultation proved very productive and the issues relating to micro fabric and valuation were resolved within a short span of one and half month.
He appreciated the concessions accorded to the construction sector and said that government intends to enhance exports to 60 billion dollars. However, we have potential to take it to 100 billion dollars but for this purpose regionally competitive electricity and other utilities must be provided to them, he added.
He expressed concern over the short term economic policies and said that at least 10 years policies should be approved so that the business community could fully concentrate on their job and contribute its role in enhancing exports.
He said that government is serious for the sustainable revival of economy, but 42 percent of budget is being spent on the payment of interest. He said that government must evolve a strategy to get rid of IMF.
He termed exports as lifeline of economy and said that government must take “out-of-box” decision to give quantum jump to the export.
He appreciated the gesture to invite top exporters to Islamabad and recognize their services.
He also invited Federal Minister to participate in the Faisalabad Expo scheduled to be held in Lahore Expo Center on July 24, 25 and 26.
He lamented that it is a tragedy that this export city has no its dedicated expo center and the federal minister must play its role for the establishment of Faisalabad Expo Center at the earliest.
Engineer Asim Munir Vice President (VP) FCCI, Arif Ehsan Malik, Mian Muhammad Latif, Bao Akram, Hajji Muhammad Aslam Bhalli, Khurram Mukhtar, Mian Tanveer Ahmad, Muhammad Ahmad, Waheed Khaliq Ramay, Chaudhary Tallat Mehmood, Mian Muhammad Tayyab, Shahid Majeed, Shehzad Mushtaq Paracha, Naveed Gulzar, Ayub Aslam Manj, Dr Khurram Tariq, Muzammal Sultan, Ahmad Afzal Awan, Rehan Naseem Bharara, Rizwan Ahsraf, Rana Sikandar Azam, Hajji Ata Ullah and Muhammad Abid also address the meeting in addition to Arif Ehsan of Sheikhupura Chamber, Danish Fakhri of Chiniot and Umar Rehman of Jhang Chamber.
Later, SVP Naveed Akram offered vote of thanks while President Farooq Yousaf Sheikh presented FCCI Shield to Senator Aurangzeb.
Later, the federal minister also performed the soft launching of Faisalabad Expo by cutting a ribbon. He also recorded his remarks in FCCI Visitor’s Book.
