ISLAMABAD, April 20: The Chairman, Central Board of Revenue (CBR) M. Abdullah Yusuf claimed on Wednesday that revenue collection would exceed the Rs580 billion target set for the financial year 2004-05. He was addressing the participants of the of 87th Course of National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), Lahore, here on Wednesday. The delegation was headed by Director General, NIPA, Lahore Maj-Gen. (Retd) Sikandar Shami.

Mr Yusuf said that total tax collection for the first nine months of the current fiscal year stood at Rs401 billion which were Rs5 billion more than the target and 13.4 per cent more than the same period in the last financial year.

“We are confident to achieve the target or do even better,” he maintained.

He informed the participants that the CBR was currently undergoing transformation and change, which would create an environment conducive to investment which would ultimately lead to higher growth rate.

The chairman was of the opinion that every body has the right to make money through legal business, there is nothing wrong if some one earns money through lawful means and pays its due share to the government in the form of duties and taxes.

Briefing to the participants about the reforms process in the CBR, the chairman said that the infrastructure facilities for taxpayers were being improved by setting up large taxpayers’ units, medium taxpayers’ units and customs administrative reforms (CARE).

These reforms were aimed at transforming CBR into an organization fully equipped to face the challenges of today. These reforms would also help minimise the interaction between the taxpayers and tax collectors.

Under the pilot project of CARE, the entire process of documentation would be automated and one could clear his shipping and customs documents on line even before the arrival of the ship, he said.

About the payment of refunds, the chairman informed the delegation that every effort was under way to clear the pendency by the end of the current financial year.