ISLAMABAD, May 27: The National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) committee has proposed a number of measures for reducing level of corruption in the tax administration to make it a user-friendly organization.

Officials told Dawn on Tuesday that the committee recommended complete implementation of the action plan in a period of 1-5 years with a rigorous monitoring system.

The government had constituted a committee to come up with a NACS aimed at eradicating prevalent corruption from the government departments. The report observed that one of the major reasons of corruption in the tax administration was mainly due to excessive, complicated and non-transparent taxation system.

The committee, the officials said, in its report submitted that the government should change tax reporting formats along with the tax assessment process within a period of one to three years. This will help reduce the interaction between the taxpayers and tax officials.

It recommended further amendments in the tax laws to reduce the collector’s discretion in deciding cases of taxpayers. The report says that for reducing the interaction between the taxpayers and tax officials, the Central Board of Revenue should fully automate its process and functions, which would not only facilitate the taxpayers, but would also reduce the incidence of corruption.

According to the report, the committee also asked the government to reduce the number of taxes and rates, which would ultimately reduce the opportunities for intrusion. It further recommended to simplify the procedures regarding the taxes and duties, which would provide protection to the taxpayers.

The other measures for reducing corruption also include adoption and monitoring of codes, asset declaration, monitoring and complaint redressal system.