KARACHI, Sept 2: The Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) Karachi has presented first-ever awards to leading taxpayers from 17 sectors in the country.

Central Board of Revenue Chairman Abdullah Yousuf distributed the awards at a ceremony held here on Friday evening.

The recipients included NBP, PPL, NICL, Pakistan Steel, Pakistan Beverages Ltd, Lackson Tobacco Ltd, Engro Chemical, Habib Oil Mills, GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Ltd, Packages Ltd, Unilever Pakistan, Javedan Cement, Pakistan Services Ltd, Siemens Engineering Ltd, etc.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Yousuf said the government wanted to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio and a new tax-friendly culture had been brought in the CBR. He said under the new culture of self-assessment, the responsibility of tax assessment and payment had been shifted to the taxpayers.

“The taxpayer has to assess his tax liability and file a return himself under the new culture,” he said.

LTU director general Syed Zafarul Hassan said these awards were being presented to the large taxpayers in recognition for their level of tax compliance, fairness in tax assessment, indication of growth, etc.--APP