Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected the prospects of a mini-budget and directed tax authorities to recover the Rs386 billion revenue shortfall and settle the pending cases of inland revenue in the Supreme Court and Appellate Tribunals as soon as possible.
The Prime Minister has convened two meetings in the past week to review tax matters. One of these meetings was held on Friday in which the Prime Minister was informed that the FBR’s tax target of Rs957 billion for January is not even being met, so the current tax shortfall may increase further.
The Prime Minister directed the courts to resolve pending revenue cases as soon as possible and said that revenue cases should be resolved immediately by appointing international-standard manpower in the Appellate Tribunals on the basis of competitive salaries, benefits and professional talent.
The Prime Minister said that there will be no delay in this work under any circumstances. The Prime Minister said that by the grace of God, work on FBR reforms is progressing rapidly. Recently, a faceless assessment system has been launched in Karachi. The modern automated system has eliminated corruption and the time required for customs clearance has been significantly reduced. We will protect every penny of the country and the nation. Instead of putting more tax burden on the poor, we will collect taxes from tax defaulters.
The Express Tribune has quoted sources as saying that the Prime Minister has directed to collect 400 billion out of the 7.2 trillion tax revenue from July to December in any case. Chairman FBR Rashid Langrial told the meeting that currently Rs4.1 trillion is recoverable in terms of sales tax, Rs2.1 trillion in terms of income tax and Rs600 billion in terms of custom duties. The government had targeted 186,000 tax defaulters to recover these revenues, but the FBR has been able to collect only Rs378 billion out of 38,000.
The FBR had claimed that tax-to-GDP ratio increased by 10.8 percent in December, which is more than the IMF target of 10.6 percent. In fact, these FBR figures are from October to December. In the first half of the fiscal year, the tax-to-GDP ratio was 10.2 percent, which is lower than the IMF target. Due to the government’s strict economic policies, the economic growth rate continues to suffer.
The Prime Minister has asked the FBR to seek concessions from the IMF on the basis of increasing tax-to-GDP. The Prime Minister said that the salaried class is already burdened by the tax burden, he will not allow any class to be burdened with more taxes. The IMF says that if the cases pending in the courts are disposed of during the current financial year, the government can get at least Rs 100 billion more from them. The government blames the courts for the delay in cases, while the courts say that the FBR is responsible for not following up the cases properly.
Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Muslim World League, Sheikh Dr. Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, met Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif yesterday. The Prime Minister appreciated the support of the Muslim World League in co-hosting the International Conference on Girls’ Education in Muslim Countries on January 11 and 12 in Islamabad.
The Prime Minister was also met by the Secretary General of the OIC, Hussain Brahim Taha. The Prime Minister thanked the OIC for its principled stand and continued support for the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. The Prime Minister strongly condemned Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign in Palestine and called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and for Israel to be held accountable for its war crimes.
