ISLAMABAD - The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) UK on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for exchange of information and cooperation on improvement in taxation and revenue collection.
FBR Chairman Tariq Bajwa and Head of DFID, Pakistan, Richard Montgomery signed the MoU in the presence of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and British High Commissioner, Phillip Barton. Under the MoU, UK will provide technical assistance to the FBR over the next three years to help build its capacity and improve tax collection to support economic integration, stability and growth. This technical assistance - supported by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) - will be provided by HMRC.  The FBR and HMRC will work together to help Pakistan achieve its tax targets by helping to develop skills, knowledge and other resources essential for improving its performance in tax collection. HMRC will also advise the FBR on innovative solutions and measures to improve tax enforcement and reduce opportunities for tax evasion. Specific areas of assistance include off-shore taxation, strategic communications and the use of information technology - particularly forecasting and analyzing available information and assessing risk.
Talking to the media, the finance minister said signing of the MoU augurs well for bringing about improvements in the tax and revenue collection procedures of FBR. He said the government had taken measures to simplify the procedures for filing of returns with a view to encouraging tax culture. Performa for the salaried persons, he said, had particularly been simplified and any feed back in this regard would be welcomed. The minister said there had been tax collection to the tune of 95 billion during the last 14 months, 120,000 tax notices had been issued, so there was visible economic activity. He said despite negative calls by those staging sit ins, there had been positive trend as far as tax collection was concerned, the minister added. 
British High Commissioner, Phillip Barton also welcomed signing of the MoU between DFID and FBR, saying it would add a new dimension in cooperation between the two countries. He expressed deep appreciation of the economic performance of the government despite difficulties. Earlier, the British High Commissioner, accompanied by Head of DFID, Pakistan called on Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar.
Talking to the High Commissioner, the minister said the government was deeply concerned about the plight of the large number of flood affectees and the IDPs. The government, he said, envisaged to set up a Joint Trust Fund with the participation of international donors for rehabilitation of both IDPs and flood affectees. He said complete transparency would be ensured in utilization of funds. He said once the flood waters receded and the action in North Waziristan was over, damage need assessment would be easy to carry out. The minister also welcomed a proposal by the Head of DFID for utilizing the Trust fund already functional in Baluchistan, Punjab and KP with replenishment from donors and the government instead of floating a new Trust Fund altogether. He also appreciated resolve of the British High Commissioner and the DFID for support in the rehabilitation work for IDPs and flood affected people. He said the idea behind floating the Trust Fund really was to generate ample funds for rehab activities and there was no harm in utilizing the already operational mechanism for this purpose. Responding to the concern expressed by the British envoy over the political commotion created by the sit-in at the federal capital, the finance minister said, it had adversely affected the economy, but the government believed in peaceful resolution of the problem and hoped to keep the national economy moving in the right direction. The Advisor to Finance Division, Rana Asad Amin and Additional Finance Secretary, Shahid Mehmood also attended the signing ceremony.