The Tax Advisors

30/10/2017

09/10/2017

FBR receives only 215,000 tax returns by September 30 OCT 8TH, 2017 LAHORE
The Federal Board of Revenue received merely 215,000 tax returns out of 1.2 million taxpayers in the country by 30th September 2017, a deadline set for filing of tax returns, said sources. This awkward situation has led to the extension of last date for filing of returns up to 31st October 2017, they added. A snail-paced filing of returns is a cause of concern for the Board, as the Member Information Technology (IT) Kh Adnan Zaheer was adamant on not extending deadline in a recently held meeting for orientation of integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) for tax consultants.

It may be noted that Member Tax Reform Commission Ashfaq Tola has recently stressed the need for simplifying tax laws to attract new taxpayers. He was of the view that tax laws should not be inordinately complex or complicated which usually create undue hardship and encourage filing of tax returns.

Tax experts maintain that the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, is highly complex and a badly drafted law. Despite witnessing over 2500 amendments during the last 16 years, it still carries anomalies. According to the tax circles, taxation should be narrowed down to the ability to pay. Uniformity of tax treatment for various categories, minimizing dependence on withholding taxes, promotion of voluntary compliance, removal of tax exemptions, introduction of National Tax Court and removal of distortions and anomalies are a few more proposals to make the law coherent and consistent.

Furthermore, taxing the rich and mighty is also sought to promote tax culture. Besides, all presumptive and minimum tax regimes, concessions and exemptions in the existing law should be removed and ensure taxpayers' rights through legislation with prime focus on spending of tax collection on public welfare.

The FBR has launched an intensive drive to increase the total number of return filers this year. Last year, 1.2 million people filed their tax returns. The chief commissioners of Lahore and Islamabad Large Taxpayer Units have been advised to work hard for achieving their targets for the current fiscal year, said sources.

09/10/2017

Contempt of court petition: LHC seeks report from President”s office and FBR”s Commissioner
OCT 9TH, 2017 ISLAMABAD
Office of the President of Pakistan and FBR''s Commissioner shall file report to Lahore High Court (LHC) in a contempt of court petition moved by an aggrieved taxpayer of Regional Tax Office Bahawalpur whose refunds have been denied by the Commissioner even after obtaining orders from Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO). It is reliably learnt that a contempt of court petition has been moved by a taxpayer of RTO Bahawalpur through Waheed Shahzad Butt.

The petitioner/taxpayer states that he questions the working of President of Pakistan as appellate authority under FTO Ordinance, 2000 and FBR functionaries to play with the precious resources of national exchequer (taxpayer''s money) under the umbrella of powers available with IRS officials and ultimate wastage of taxpayer''s money in futile litigation either by passing patently illegal orders or retaining taxpayer''s money in shape of refunds and then defending it to save the skin of higher authorities.

In contempt of court petition the petitioner states, "Respondents are blatantly involved in violating the verdicts of binding nature issued by the LHC in WP No 11983 which is also confirmed by the Supreme Court in CA No 1074. Rule of law is the foundation of the democratic society. The judiciary is the guardian of the rule of law. If the orders of the court are disobeyed with impunity by those who owe it an obligation to society to preserve the rule of law, not only would individual litigants suffer, the whole administration of justice would be brought into disrepute. Everyone, whether individually or collectively is unquestionably under the supremacy of law. Whoever, he may be, however high he is, and he is under the law. The dignity and authority of the courts have to be respected and protected at all costs.

Respondents (the president and commissioner) acted illegally, arbitrarily with mala fide intention and refused the lawful right of the petitioner under the garb of Section 32 of the FTO Ordinance, 2000 by willfully flouting and disregarding the unambiguous orders passed by LHC. Cognisance may very graciously be taken for gross criminal Contempt of LHC and respondents may kindly be punished and stopped from doing any act prejudicial to the taxpayer citizens of Pakistan.

Tax counsel Waheed added that earlier in the instant case LHC had ruled in WP 30317-17 that President of Pakistan has passed a wholly illegal and unlawful order against FTO as representation filed by FBR was patently time barred and as such could not have been entertained by the President. In WP No 30317-17, the LHC order states, "There is, therefore, no doubt in the mind of this court that President has passed a wholly illegal and unlawful order which is not sustainable in law and facts of the case. In this view of the matter, this writ petition is allowed and order dated 17.11.2016 is set aside being without lawful authority and of no legal effect."

The LHC ordered, "Contends that the judgement passed this Court, upheld by the Supreme Court of Pakistan is not complied with in letter and spirit by the respondents. Deputy Attorney General seeks some time to file report on behalf of both the respondents on or before the next date of hearing."

09/10/2017

Contempt of court petition: LHC seeks report from President”s office and FBR”s Commissioner OCT 9TH, 2017 ISLAMABAD
Office of the President of Pakistan and FBR''s Commissioner shall file report to Lahore High Court (LHC) in a contempt of court petition moved by an aggrieved taxpayer of Regional Tax Office Bahawalpur whose refunds have been denied by the Commissioner even after obtaining orders from Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO). It is reliably learnt that a contempt of court petition has been moved by a taxpayer of RTO Bahawalpur through Waheed Shahzad Butt.

The petitioner/taxpayer states that he questions the working of President of Pakistan as appellate authority under FTO Ordinance, 2000 and FBR functionaries to play with the precious resources of national exchequer (taxpayer''s money) under the umbrella of powers available with IRS officials and ultimate wastage of taxpayer''s money in futile litigation either by passing patently illegal orders or retaining taxpayer''s money in shape of refunds and then defending it to save the skin of higher authorities.

In contempt of court petition the petitioner states, "Respondents are blatantly involved in violating the verdicts of binding nature issued by the LHC in WP No 11983 which is also confirmed by the Supreme Court in CA No 1074. Rule of law is the foundation of the democratic society. The judiciary is the guardian of the rule of law. If the orders of the court are disobeyed with impunity by those who owe it an obligation to society to preserve the rule of law, not only would individual litigants suffer, the whole administration of justice would be brought into disrepute. Everyone, whether individually or collectively is unquestionably under the supremacy of law. Whoever, he may be, however high he is, and he is under the law. The dignity and authority of the courts have to be respected and protected at all costs.

Respondents (the president and commissioner) acted illegally, arbitrarily with mala fide intention and refused the lawful right of the petitioner under the garb of Section 32 of the FTO Ordinance, 2000 by willfully flouting and disregarding the unambiguous orders passed by LHC. Cognisance may very graciously be taken for gross criminal Contempt of LHC and respondents may kindly be punished and stopped from doing any act prejudicial to the taxpayer citizens of Pakistan.

Tax counsel Waheed added that earlier in the instant case LHC had ruled in WP 30317-17 that President of Pakistan has passed a wholly illegal and unlawful order against FTO as representation filed by FBR was patently time barred and as such could not have been entertained by the President. In WP No 30317-17, the LHC order states, "There is, therefore, no doubt in the mind of this court that President has passed a wholly illegal and unlawful order which is not sustainable in law and facts of the case. In this view of the matter, this writ petition is allowed and order dated 17.11.2016 is set aside being without lawful authority and of no legal effect."

The LHC ordered, "Contends that the judgement passed this Court, upheld by the Supreme Court of Pakistan is not complied with in letter and spirit by the respondents. Deputy Attorney General seeks some time to file report on behalf of both the respondents on or before the next date of hearing."

07/10/2017

Customs collected Rs 327.87 billion in first quarter
OCT 6TH, 2017 KARACHI
Pakistan Customs has collected Rs 327.87 billion during first quarter of current fiscal year, depicting 10 percent growth against its budgetary target of Rs 297.93 billion. According to the provisional statistics, the Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Appraisement East was assigned a target of Rs 85.53 billion for July-September 2017 while the revenue target of MCC West was Rs 71.92 billion and Port Qasim Collectorate was Rs 108.9 billion while Rs 31.487 billion was fixed for Preventive Collectorate.

The statistics revealed that MCC Appraisement East had collected Rs 109.88 billion against the target of Rs 85.53 billion, depicting 28 percent growth during first three months of the current financial year. The MCC Appraisement East has managed to collect Rs 39.78 billion as customs duty against the target of Rs 32.80 billion and Rs 50.75 billion as sales tax as against Rs 33.01 billion collected during last preceding period while the income tax and FED collection were stood at Rs 18.71 billion and Rs 626 million, respectively.

Similarly, the MCC Appraisement West has collected Rs 28.89 billion as customs duty as against the target of Rs 31.49 billion and Rs 27.79 billion was collected as sales tax as compared to the collection of Rs 29.39 billion made during last preceding period while the income tax and FED collection were stood at Rs 11.18 billion and Rs 385 million, respectively.

The MCC Port Qasim has managed to surpass its target of Rs 108.99 billion by Rs 5.221 billion with a collection of Rs 114.211 billion during this period. The MCC Port Qasim has collected Rs 33.51 billion as customs duty; Rs 66.56 billion as sales tax; Rs 13.1 billion as withholding tax and Rs 1001 million collected under the head of FED, showing 23 percent growth in customs duty, 32 percent growth in sales tax, 23 percent in WHT and 16 percent growth in FED collection.

The MCC Preventive has also shown growth during first quarter of current fiscal year, collecting Rs 9.49 billion as customs duty against the target of Rs 8.48 billion; sales tax at Rs 21.88 billion against the target of Rs 19.22 billion; income tax at Rs 3.24 billion against Rs 2.89 billion and FED at Rs 929 million against the target of Rs 878 million.

07/10/2017

FBR registering new taxpayers in Karachi on TR basis
OCT 6TH, 2017 ISLAMABAD
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has started a new exercise in Karachi to register potential taxpayers on the basis of TR (Temporary Registration) numbers for which legal cover has been provided under the law.

Sources told Business Recorder here on Thursday that the idea of "spot assessment" and "temporary registration" was discussed during the last meeting of the high-powered implementation committee of Tax Reforms Commission (TRC).

The FBR Member (Legal) apprised the committee that in Karachi an initiative was made to book new taxpayers on the basis of TR (Temporary Registration) number and necessary amendment in the relevant rule was also made by the policy wing of FBR to provide legal cover to this exercise.

The high-powered implementation committee of Tax Reforms Commission (TRC) discussed a unique idea of "spot assessment" of unregistered or new taxpayers with right to file appeal upon payment of 50 percent of the tax demand raised by the taxation officer of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). During last meeting, the FBR Member (Legal) observed that negligible returns were filed in response to notices and, therefore, provision for "spot assessment" should exist with right to file appeal upon payment of 50 percent of the tax demand. He also opined that capturing and utilization of data related to property could prove to be of great benefit.

The FBR Member (IT) observed that the extent of compatibility of the TPL data with FBR's data could only be ascertained after analysis of the data provided by TPL Member (TPA). The Member (IT) emphasized that the data in the ODS (operational data store) of FBR is of immense value and needs to be utilized constructively. As regards the utility of Nadra's data, the DG (BTB) gave a presentation which highlighted the challenges and impediments faced in the formulation of a data sharing agreement with Nadra for tax broadening efforts.

In the last meeting of the committee, it was decided that the possibility of an MOU between FBR and M/s TPL in respect of mapping of retail outlets/geo-tagging would be explored and the utility of such data would be evaluated by Pral. It was also decided that the possibility of utilizing Nadra's data for the purpose of broadening of the tax base be explored.

The director general Broadening of Tax Base (BTB) apprised the committee that sample data provided by TPL was analyzed and 1,200 unmatched cases were detected, therefore the data prima facie has certain utility, however, the major constraint is that the crucial field of CNIC is missing in TPL's data whereas FBR's software is triggered through CNIC. He suggested that the possibility of enriching TPL's data may be explored.

The Member (Legal) apprised the committee that in Karachi an initiative was made to book new taxpayers on the basis of TR number and necessary amendment in the relevant rule was also made by the policy wing of the FBR to provide legal cover to this exercise.

The DG (BTB) apprised the committee that he was actively working towards creation of specialized zones in RTO's dedicated singularly to broadening of the tax base so that discernable progress is made in this crucial area. As a first step such dedicated tax broadening zones would be created in 3 major RTO's at Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad and 6 smaller RTO's where a BS-19 officer would head the specialized zone of tax broadening. He also submitted that the processing of BTB cases would be carried out by the respective field offices whereas the Directorate General of BTB would be responsible for monitoring the process form issuance of notice till recovery of tax.

Member TRC Abdi Shaban suggested that majority of the manpower in the FBR should be utilized for purposes of broadening of the tax base to make this exercise effective. He suggested that a hybrid model be adopted whereby analysis, sifting and feeding of data to the respective field formations be undertaken by the DG BTB whereas the actual processing of the cases be carried out by the field formations.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Haroon Akhtar Khan also stressed that this area is of immense importance and needs special focus and dedicated efforts. Ashfaq Tola, Member TRIC /CEO Pral, facilitated and co-ordinated in acquiring data of 50,000 cases pertaining to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad from M/S TPL which shall then be analyzed and sifted by Pral to identify 10,000-15,000 potential revenue yielding cases for dissemination to the field formations. The DG BTB will make a presentation before the committee in the next meeting to delineate the progress in augmenting efforts for tax broadening.

07/10/2017

PRA registers five percent decline in collection OCT 6TH, 2017 LAHORE
The Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has registered 5 percent decline in its revenue collection during first three months of 2017-18 against the corresponding period of 2016-17. Though the PRA revenue collection stayed at Rs 21,233 million during July-September 2017-18, showing an increase of 26 percent, it is down by five percent when compared with the corresponding period of the previous year's (2016-17) collection of Rs 16,904 million.

The collection made during 2016-17 was 31 percent extra against Rs 12,927 million of the corresponding period of 2015-16. The Authority collected Rs 6,703 million in July, Rs 6,255 million in August and Rs 8,275 million in September 2017-18. PRA Chairman Raheed Ahmed Siddiqui revealed these figures in a presentation made during a meeting with the members of the Lahore Economic Journalists Association here Thursday.

He said the PRA was established when the Federal Board of Revenue transferred the Punjab's share in 2011-12. At that time, only 12 services were taxable which were fetching Rs 22 billion. The number of taxable services gradually increased to 21, 37, 47, 59 and 62 in 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively, generating an amount of Rs 33.9 billion, Rs 43.9 billion, 43.6 billion, 61,6 billion and Rs 82.41 billion, respectively, he added.

Raheel Ahmed Siddqui said the PRA was given the target of revenue collection of Rs 130 billion during the current financial year. "The target should be realistic, he said, adding the Authority took different initiatives during the fiscal 2017-18 including launching of Restaurant Invoice Monitoring System (RIMS) in Faisalabad where 83 restaurants were brought under the RIMS while 83 restaurants would be brought in Rawalpindi under the same system by the end of this year.

Besides, the PRA set up tax clinics to create awareness among the taxpayers of different sectors like beauty parlours and real estate agents besides setting up of appellate tribunal and e-courts to facilitate the business community. To a question, the PRA Chairman said the operational cost of tax collection is around 0.74 percent which is much less than other tax collecting agencies including the FBR.

07/10/2017

Cases in litigation: FBR to evolve strategy for early disposal of cases
OCT 6TH, 2017 ISLAMABAD
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is working on an effective strategy for early disposal of cases, where courts have granted stay over six months, by invoking Article 186 of the Constitution and applying for early fixation of cases in higher courts.

Sources told Business Recorder here on Thursday that the cases in litigation and appellate forums were discussed during the last meeting of the high-powered implementation committee of the Tax Reforms Commission (TRC).

The Member (Legal) also stressed upon the formulation of an effective strategy for early disposal of cases where stay has been granted for over 6 months by invoking Article 186 of the Constitution and applying for early fixation. Under Article 186 (Advisory Jurisdiction) of the Constitution, if, at any time, the President considers that it is desirable to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court on any question of law which he considers of public importance, he may refer the question to the Supreme Court for consideration. The Supreme Court shall consider a question so referred and report its opinion on the question to the President.

During last meeting of the tax reforms implementation committee (TRIC), the FBR Member (Legal) also proposed that seminars, etc, be organized on drafting of questions of law and formulation of strategies for effective pleading before appellate fora. He apprised the committee that focal persons in this respect have already been appointed twice. He also pointed out that there was a need to grant service of notice through IRIS legal cover through amendment the relevant section and underscore the importance of proper service to reduce litigation on this account. It was requested that rules for Commissioner/ Collector Appeals be formulated by the policy wing. It was also suggested by him that introduction of proper mechanism for monitoring of cases attracting section 124A through inclusion is IRIS module/ maintenance of manual registers was of immense importance.

The FBR Member (Legal) gave a comprehensive and detailed presentation on proposals for improving management of litigation cases and highlighted the challenges and impediments faced in this respect including high volume of litigation sub-optimal quality of departmental orders, weak representation in courts and lack of coordination among field formations and advocates. He also submitted that recent initiatives in this respect encompassed increase in fee structure for panel advocates, establishment of litigation coordination cells, appointment of coordinators, delisting of advocates based on performance and preparation of case folders for potential revenue cases. The Member (Legal) also put forth various proposals in this respect including implementation of tracking and monitoring software, strengthening officers of DG Law and Director Law, development of an in-house legal team, delineation of minimum criteria for appointment of panel advocates, establishment of a litigation research cell within the FBR and introduction of monitoring pro forma for panel advocates. The FBR Member (Legal) apprised the committee that in order to augment research efforts on sub judice matters, thirteen issues have been identified and disseminated to field formations in Karachi for comprehensive write-ups which shall then be shared across the board.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenue, Haroon Akhtar Khan, underscored the importance of sustained follow-up of sub judice cases and effective coordination with the panel advocates by the concerned zonal commissioners. He also opined that the office of the director law be made operational and effective. It has been decided that priority be accorded by the Member (Legal) to major issues acting as an impediment to effective management of litigation cases. The Member (Legal) to make a presentation in the next meeting of the TRIC on the progress made in respect of the issues/challenges impeding effective management of litigation cases and the proposals put forth for improving the same.

07/10/2017

PAKISTAN
Cases in litigation: FBR to evolve strategy for early disposal of cases
OCT 6TH, 2017 ISLAMABAD
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is working on an effective strategy for early disposal of cases, where courts have granted stay over six months, by invoking Article 186 of the Constitution and applying for early fixation of cases in higher courts.

Sources told Business Recorder here on Thursday that the cases in litigation and appellate forums were discussed during the last meeting of the high-powered implementation committee of the Tax Reforms Commission (TRC).

The Member (Legal) also stressed upon the formulation of an effective strategy for early disposal of cases where stay has been granted for over 6 months by invoking Article 186 of the Constitution and applying for early fixation. Under Article 186 (Advisory Jurisdiction) of the Constitution, if, at any time, the President considers that it is desirable to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court on any question of law which he considers of public importance, he may refer the question to the Supreme Court for consideration. The Supreme Court shall consider a question so referred and report its opinion on the question to the President.

During last meeting of the tax reforms implementation committee (TRIC), the FBR Member (Legal) also proposed that seminars, etc, be organized on drafting of questions of law and formulation of strategies for effective pleading before appellate fora. He apprised the committee that focal persons in this respect have already been appointed twice. He also pointed out that there was a need to grant service of notice through IRIS legal cover through amendment the relevant section and underscore the importance of proper service to reduce litigation on this account. It was requested that rules for Commissioner/ Collector Appeals be formulated by the policy wing. It was also suggested by him that introduction of proper mechanism for monitoring of cases attracting section 124A through inclusion is IRIS module/ maintenance of manual registers was of immense importance.

The FBR Member (Legal) gave a comprehensive and detailed presentation on proposals for improving management of litigation cases and highlighted the challenges and impediments faced in this respect including high volume of litigation sub-optimal quality of departmental orders, weak representation in courts and lack of coordination among field formations and advocates. He also submitted that recent initiatives in this respect encompassed increase in fee structure for panel advocates, establishment of litigation coordination cells, appointment of coordinators, delisting of advocates based on performance and preparation of case folders for potential revenue cases. The Member (Legal) also put forth various proposals in this respect including implementation of tracking and monitoring software, strengthening officers of DG Law and Director Law, development of an in-house legal team, delineation of minimum criteria for appointment of panel advocates, establishment of a litigation research cell within the FBR and introduction of monitoring pro forma for panel advocates. The FBR Member (Legal) apprised the committee that in order to augment research efforts on sub judice matters, thirteen issues have been identified and disseminated to field formations in Karachi for comprehensive write-ups which shall then be shared across the board.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenue, Haroon Akhtar Khan, underscored the importance of sustained follow-up of sub judice cases and effective coordination with the panel advocates by the concerned zonal commissioners. He also opined that the office of the director law be made operational and effective. It has been decided that priority be accorded by the Member (Legal) to major issues acting as an impediment to effective management of litigation cases. The Member (Legal) to make a presentation in the next meeting of the TRIC on the progress made in respect of the issues/challenges impeding effective management of litigation cases and the proposals put forth for improving the same.

07/10/2017

Verification of declarations: FBR unveils updated manual on Crest for taxmen OCT 7TH, 2017 ISLAMABAD
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued a new manual for the tax officials to effectively utilize Computerized Risk-Based Evaluation of Sales Tax (Crest) system for real time verification of declaration of seller and buyers.

According to the updated manual on Crest issued by the FBR Friday, the FBR is now capturing the transactions made by the registered persons. "This has enabled us to identify cases where any genuine registered person is denied any benefit admissible under the Sales Tax Act." Accordingly, the FBR has developed an end to end IT solution (Crest) Sales Tax. This home-grown system checks the information contained in monthly returns, customs import and export data and cross matches one another for every registered person. Any exceptions pointed out by the system will be provided electronically to the concerned registered person who in turn can explain the position through attaching the supporting documents. The system has inbuilt capacity to verify the veracity of the reply received from the registered person. The system is designed for sales tax registered persons based on their declarations.

The system has pointed out that certain registered persons have claimed credit/adjustment of sales tax deducted by withholding agents, whereas the withholding agents (buyers) have not paid/deposited the withheld amount in government treasury. With the launching of STRIVe system, real time verification of declaration of seller and buyers, this discrepancy will not be developed after July 2016.

The Crest system has the feature of marking potential cases, domain team will identify the potential cases for officers to work, and these will be sure short cases in order to increase revenue. The technical procedure of marking and view such potential cases are as follows: Domain will select the check box against the discrepancy case and will click on the button namely "Mark as Potential Case."

It said that input tax adjustment of buyer is cross-matched with their suppliers' returns and Customs import data. Excess input adjustment of buyer is highlighted. With the launching of STRIVe system, no further discrepancy will be made after July 2016.

The supplies made @ 16 percent instead of 17 percent have been highlighted in short payment discrepancies. Dashboard provides summary and overall view of the selected cases. The screen displays various columns related to discrepancies like purchase, zero rated supplies, imports, exports, commercial imports, short payments, further tax, non-filing of ST & IT return and IT withholding statement discrepancy, inadmissible input tax (SRO.490) discrepancy, extra tax Chapter-XIII discrepancy, reduce rate discrepancy and inadmissible STWH (SRO.660) discrepancy, it added.

07/10/2017

Over 20 percent growth in Q1 despite Rs 41 billion refund payments OCT 6TH, 2017 ISLAMABAD
Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar chaired a session of Chief Commissioners Conference at Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday to review revenue collection performance of the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

The Minister while addressing the Conference said that target for the current fiscal year has been fixed at Rs 4013 billion which is 19.4 percent higher than the previous year, whereas during the first quarter FBR has registered an increase of more than 20% growth, which was really a praiseworthy feat. This increase has been achieved despite the fact that Rs 41 billion worth of tax refunds were issued by FBR in the July - September quarter, against 19 billion issued in the same period during previous fiscal year. "I congratulate the FBR team on this significant achievement", the Minister said. He added, having done all this, it was also essential that the whole FBR team continued to work with the same zeal and perseverance to achieve the overall targets for FY 2017-18.

The Minister on the occasion emphasized efforts and measures for broadening of tax base in real terms. He said undoubtedly encouragement of existing and potential taxpayers along with friendly treatment and moral suasion should be the FBR's main forte. At the same time it was also moral obligation of the people in general, the business community and others who are required to pay tax, to contribute to the national exchequer. The Minister went on to say that in view of security challenges that the country is facing and the continued war on terror, more and more resources were needed by the nation. FBR being the revenue generating authority had a great responsibility to strive hard to help meet this requirement, the Minister remarked. He called upon the participants of the conference to come up with still better suggestions and reformatory steps for further growth in revenue in future as well as effective working of the FBR.

Chairman FBR on the occasion said that the new team of FBR is working wholeheartedly under the guidance and encouragement of the Finance Minister. He said efforts were already afoot for broadening the tax base and "we shall continue to focus on this sphere".-PR