ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched the Inland Revenue Strategic Reform Plan (2021-25) to improve tax administration in the four strategic areas.

The plan provides reform actions to improve tax administration in the four strategic reform areas which include improving tax compliance, strengthening tax administration, building institutional capacity, and reinforcing the legislative framework.

The plan clearly sets the reform agenda for the four-year period from 2021-22 through to 2024-25. FBR Chairman Ashfaq Ahmed chaired the launching ceremony.

The event was also attended by key officials of international donors including World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank, and senior leadership of FBR.

Furthermore, the Inland Revenue plans to address the challenge of low tax compliance through implementing a compliance risk management capability; improving registration, filing, payment and reporting compliance; reducing the cost of compliance, strengthening the audit capability, streamlining processes, and procedures.

Needless to add that greater use of automation for better service delivery and data-centric approach is a key reform area. Leveraging existing data holdings and developing further data sources will allow the FBR to better identify compliance risks and allow the FBR to direct our resources to areas of highest risk.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2022