Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday termed the tax award winners ‘national heroes,’ urging the countrymen to pay their due taxes being responsible citizens.
“You [the tax award winners] are really our national heroes. The entire nation and the country should follow you as a beacon of light,” the minister said while addressing the Tax Excellence Awards distribution ceremony here. The high taxpayers were awarded with the prizes by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Highlighting importance of tax collection in revenue generation, Aurangzeb said direct tax on domestic side and exports on the external front were levers of the growth and development. “In Pakistan’s case, the both flows have been raise-bound and therefore underwhelming, and redressing them on urgently basis is critical.”
The finance minister reiterated a firm resolve of the government for restructuring and digitization of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), for which it was in process of appointing consultants “for design and implementation in term of end to end digitalization.
He talked about bringing structural reforms, doing end-to-eng digitalization and ensuring transparency in the tax-collection system, stressing that “We have to plug the leakages. There is a huge room for improvement in operational effectiveness of something rolled out few years back.”
Aurangzeb was of the view to restore the confidence of superior clients’ trust [high tax payers] in the government policies and transparency in the tax-collection system, which would help expand the tax-base.
The minister warned that the import-led and subsidy-supported businesses were not sustainable anymore and the country would have to accelerate export the led- growth to achieve the trajectory of sustainable growth.
He urged the private sector to continue improving productivity in industrial operations, assuring that the government would provide them best policy framework, competitive energy and IT developed skills, which would lead to the government to progress and prosperity.
Speaking on the occasion, FBR Chairman Malik Amjed Zubair Tiwana expressed the confidence that the tax collection would increase due to effective policies of the government.
He said the prime minister always acknowledged the contribution of tax payers and exporters, and directed to solve their issues on urgent basis.
