June 24, 2007	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 08, 1428

ISLAMABAD, June 23: The government has changed the nomenclature of the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on the pretext of enhancing capacity of the tax setup to collect due taxes through application of modern techniques.

Through the Finance Act 2007, the change in nomenclature has been made through FBR Act 2007, which would come into effect from July 1 by replacing the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1924.

A new provision has been introduced in the Act to empower the chairman FBR to listen to the grievances of taxpayers against any appeal or mal-administration of the tax officials.

Currently, taxpayers file applications with the federal tax ombudsman for seeking relief against the mal-administration of the tax department.

The FBR objective and vision is to be a modern, progressive, effective, autonomous and credible organisation for optimising revenue by providing quality services and promoting compliance with tax-related laws.

Under the new setup, there would a cabinet committee for federal revenue for reviewing the overall policies of the board. This board will consist of not less than seven members, to be appointed by the federal government.

The board shall meet at least six times in a year and a special meeting of the board may be convened on the request of any member.

The board will enjoy almost all powers from review of existing laws to proposing new laws, implementation of a tax reform policy and enforcement of the tax laws and widening of the tax base.