ISLAMABAD - The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would utilise the database of National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) to broaden the tax base of the country.
The government had already decided to bring potential taxpayers under the tax net during current fiscal year. Officials informed that FBR has devised a plan to take the help of NADRA for tracing non-taxpayers in order to broaden the tax base of the country. “We will use the NADRA data for tracing non-taxpayers,” said an official of the FBR. He further said that data was not properly utilised in the past. “The FBR has also briefed Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on the proposed plan of broadening tax base with the help of NADRA”.
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin had already announced to start crackdown against the tax dodgers. He said that government could go for arrest of the tax defaulters who do not pay taxes despite having powers to pay. The government would arrest the tax evaders only after the approval of the finance minister and chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). Shukat Tarin said that government is having details of 7.2 million potential taxpayers. “We will issue notices on the basis of this data”. The FBR would not conduct the audit of taxpayers, as it would be done through third party. The government had decided that tax notices would be dispatched through third party.
According to the FBR, the number of return filers had reached around 3 million. Meanwhile, it has projected that the number of potential tax dodgers stood at 7 million. According to sources, different options have come under discussion during the meeting keeping in view enforcement measures introduced through Finance Act 2021.
The official further informed that government had also formed two committees to prepare a comprehensive plan for expending the base of the country by bringing new taxpayers in the net. The committees will work on broadening of tax base and incentivising consumers through a system of prizes on sales tax receipts by the end of July. 
It is worth mentioning here that the income tax returns for tax year 2020 had recorded 3.01 million compared to 2.67 million in tax year 2019, showing an increase of 12.5 per cent. The tax to GDP ratio of the country is around 10 percent. Finance Minister had recently said that country needed to take the tax to GDP ratio to 20 percent in next few years.