ISLAMABAD - The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is making concerted efforts to broaden the tax base and has taken several initiatives in the recent past to increase the number of tax return filers, which has for the first time crossed one million mark.

 "Our efforts for broadening the tax base have already started paying dividends, as reflected in an impressive 19 percent growth rate recorded during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, with FBR having already collected Rs 2,103 billion in this period," said Member Facilitation and Taxpayers Education (FATE) FBR Shaista Abbas.

Answering queries of participants of the 21st Mid-Career Management Course, underway at National Institute of Management Quetta, during their visit to the FBR House on Wednesday, she briefly told them about the mandate, working and performance of the FBR.

She said FBR, being the sole institution responsible for resource mobilisation and revenue generation, faced a difficult task of gathering tax revenue, but the strenuous and dedicated efforts of the FBR’s officers and workforce helped broaden the tax base. She told the participants that FBR had also increased the cost of doing business for the non-filers, while CNICs had also been converted into NTNs to track down potential taxpayers through their routine financial transactions.

To another query, Shaista said the FBR had formulated a strategy to go after the tax-evaders by using information obtained from their transactions in the real estate sector, purchase of vehicles, foreign travels and also by accessing, in the long run, their bank accounts to assess the extent of tax evasion.

Earlier, Tehmina Aamer, Chief Member FATE, FBR, gave a detailed presentation on the achievements of FBR in broadening the tax base and enhancing the tax-to-GDP ratio. She also shared with the officers various loopholes and weaknesses in the current taxation system, and what measures were required to make the system more robust. She argued that for a robust taxation system, compliant taxpayers, independent tax authority, simplified tax laws & procedures and a vibrant tax machinery were essential.

“Similarly, a fair tax system should impose similar tax burdens on similarly situated individuals, while tax burdens should also be proportional to an individual's ability to pay the tax,” she added.