RAWALPINDI

Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Tuesday vowed the government would pay back the funds to some 33,000 taxpayers who had been demanding for payments of their refunds since long.
“The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will return Rs 5 million each to 33, 000 tax payers,” he said while addressing a seminar organised by the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) at a local hotel.
Haroon Akhter, special advisor to Prime Minister on Revenue, FBR Chairman Nisar Muhammad Khan, RCCI President Mian Humayun Pevaiz and businessmen were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the seminar, Ishaq Dar said that the traders and exporters had long been demanding for payments of their refunds pending with the FBR. He said that the PML-N government inherited the refunds from the previous government and would start paying back the amount very soon to the payers.
He added that PML-N government had introduced business community friendly economic policies and the government did not want to use highhandedness for increasing tax net in the country.
“Government had accepted all workable suggestions of the traders to increase the tax net and the government had introduced a voluntary tax compliance scheme for the non-filer traders,” the finance minister said.
Dar said that the government had introduced a one-page tax return from both in English and Urdu for traders’ ease. “FBR will not investigate the new taxpayers about their previous accounts and will not take legal action against them for next four years,” he said.
The finance minister, while praising policies of PM Nawaz Sharif, said that he was following the PML-N manifesto about tax reforms and not getting the dictation from foreign lenders. The purpose of the government was to give confidence and trust to the business community for filing their returns and pay regular taxes, he claimed.
He claimed that if the tax to GDP ratio reached 15 per cent, the government’s annual budget deficit would become zero percent. Dar said that it would also help in reducing the foreign loans. He noted that the budget deficit had already gone down from 8.8 percent to 4.4 percent.
The finance minister said that the FBR’s tax collection had increased from Rs 19.44 billion to 25.81 billion in two years. He said that the government had set new target that was to take the tax revenue to Rs31 billion in the current fiscal year.
Ishaq Dar also appreciated the vision of PM Nawaz Sharif, saying all political parties needed to have a charter of economy for better future of the country.
He said that he was following Turkey-model for enhancing the tax net and he had so far been successful in giving confidence to the traders.
Haroon Akhtar, special adviser to PM on Revenue, said that all and sundry had praised the voluntary tax compliance scheme. He said that his government had been successful in negotiations with the traders about the new taxes and enhancing the tax net.
Speaking on the occasion, RCCI President Humayun Pervaiz and other business community appreciated the federal minister, the adviser and FBR chairman for attending the seminar and praised the economic policies of the government.