LAHORE, May 13: The Central Board of Revenue is considering tariff revision of some 700 items to bring the menace of smuggling, under-invoicing and misdeclaration under control. “We are thinking of some out of the box solution to the problem of smuggling, under-invoicing and misdeclaration and identified 100 items which can be smuggled, 500 products in which under-invoicing is reported, and another 100 items whose value is misdeclared for tariff revision,” CBR Chairman Abdullah Yusuf told a gathering of businessmen at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday.

He said the local industry could not grow without checking the menace of smuggling. “Some 13 agencies are involved in controlling smuggling across the country. But it is still on the rise due to a number of factors,” he said.

The CBR chief said the government had signed a bilateral customs agreement with China to obtain access to information on trade in order to stop smuggling from that country. Arrangements would also be made to get electronic information from China.

Mr Yusuf said the CBR believed that self-assessment should be the basis of all taxes. “Earlier, it was introduced to the extent of sales tax. Later, its scope was extended to income tax and now through the system of CARE we are trying to introduce the same for the assessment of customs duty,” he added. He said CARE would be implemented throughout the country gradually and the purpose of “one custom” would be achieved through this exercise. “We are trying to integrate customs outlets with equal rate of duty in the country,” he said.

He said the CBR would extend the scope of the Self-Assessment Scheme (SAS) to cover all taxes. Regarding tariff structure on import of raw materials, he appreciated a proposal to impose a single slab of 15 per cent instead of the existing three slabs of 10, 15 and 20 per cent.

Speaking on excessive litigation between the CBR and the businessmen, he said the CBR had withdrawn a number of recovery cases. He urged the participants to reciprocate with the same spirit.

On the sales tax refund issue, Mr Yusuf said the CBR was considering the possibilities of introducing some other system besides the existing STAR and STREAM programmes in order to resolve the issue once and for all. “We will introduce such suggestions in the budget for the next fiscal year that would resolve the refund issue,” he said.