March 16, 2007	Friday	Safar 26, 1428

ISLAMABAD, March 15: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) will seek international organisations’ assistance to broaden its narrow tax base to bring the potential taxpayers to the tax net.

This was stated by CBR chairman M Abdullah Yousuf at a briefing made by Chas Roy Chaudhry, Head of Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), United Kingdom, here on Thursday.

“The government will welcome positive inputs / expertise from international organisations and countries to broaden its tax net and facilitate the taxpayers,” the chairman said.

The CBR is considering various measures, including automation of the whole process of tax administration, as part of the tax administration.

Mr Yousuf appreciated the presentation and said his valuable recommendations would be given due consideration to benefit from his experiences in the field of e-filing and effectively checking the money laundering crimes for the improvement of Pakistan’s financial health.

Mr Chaudhry highlighted the system of e-filing with special reference to United Kingdom, which has helped increase online filing of tax returns, which also helps broaden tax base and acquiring accurate data of taxpayers.

He said money laundering is a global issue, which damaged two to five per cent of the global GDP ($590 billion to 1.5 trillion).

While defining the money laundering, he said it is the process to conceal the true origin and ownership proceeds of the criminal operations.

For broadening of the income tax base, the CBR is also collecting data from various sources, like Nadra, Wapda, PTCL and the vehicle registration department.