ISLAMABAD: Paki­stan’s top tax machinery has set new ambitious targets for the current fiscal year to expand the taxpayer base and get more retailers integrated into the Point-of-Sale (POS) system of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

In FY23, the FBR claimed that 182,000 new taxpayers had joined the tax system.

In a briefing to the Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Wednesday, the FBR held out an assurance to the premier that it would bring one million new taxpayers on the tax roll and 20,000 retailers to the POS system by the end of June 2024.

It was further stated that the POS coverage is also be­i­ng extended to more cities.

The meeting was further told that a strategy is being made for the Integrated Transit Trade Management System. The work on customs digitization is going on and the Pakistan Single Window is being connected with more government inst­it­utions. The government has set a revenue target of Rs9.415 trillion for FY24. In the first two months, it collected Rs1.207tr exceeding the projected target of Rs1.182tr by 2.11pc.

Regarding domestic tax collection, the meeting was informed that 38.7pc growth was seen in FY24 as compared to the previous fiscal year.

An official announcement issued after the meeting said that the premier directed that all relevant institutions should work together for tax reforms. He emphasized the need to improve relations between the federation and the provinces regarding tax documentation.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2023