The Asia-Pacific Tax Conference ended here on Saturday urging the government to establish its writ of law so that overall improvement in taxation system and substantial increase in revenue collection can be achieved.
Some speakers talking to Business Recorder on Monday said that complete recommendations of the conference had been drawn and were being given final shape before making them public.
They said that emphasis had been placed on broadening of tax base, rationalisation of tax rates and establishment of government's writ of law so that the basic rights of the civil society, that believes in paying tax, could be facilitated in doing so and its rights and privileges were protected.
The Conference was held at a local hotel on March 17-18 and had attracted participation from within the country as well as from abroad. It was a well-attended conference. Delegates from India and Bangladesh took keen interest in the conference.
On Saturday, three technical sessions were held. The first session discussed the emerging tax issues, such as transfer pricing, e-commerce, and litigation and dispute resolution. A former president of ICAP, Ebrahim Didat, chaired the session. Speakers included a former member, CBR, Ahmed Khan, who discussed tax issues of transfer pricing, Dr Ikramul Huq talked about e-commerce.
Mansoor Ali Shah, Advocate, Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan, talked about litigation issues concerning taxation. He also threw light on the role of SC. He appreciated the role of alternative dispute resolution scheme and said that it has been set up to minimise litigation, which it has reduced it to a great extent.
The second session was devoted to national resource mobilisation and its allocation issues and challenges. A former World Bank official, Shahid Hussein, evaluated steps that Pakistan government has taken so far to achieve its goals for development of economy and what more could be done, keeping in view the economic development plans that are in place in countries such as India, China and Thailand.
Banker Qaiser Bengali spoke on issues and challenges being faced in resource mobilisation.
The third session discussed the emerging tax issues on corporate structure, accountancy, VAT and ADR. The session was chaired by Justice Muhammad Ather Saeed of Sindh High Court.
Mumtaz Ahmed, Member, Legal, CBR, evaluated alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and highlighted its importance, objectives and benefits. He shared his experiences of ADR in Pakistan and in other parts of the world with the participants of the conference. Shahid Hamid, Member, Sales Tax and Federal Excise, CBR, in his presentation highlighted the challenges in the implementation of VAT regime.
Shahzad Hussain in his presentation highlighted tax aspects of corporate restructuring. He discussed different types of mergers, acquisitions and other tax avoidance avenues.
Mujahid Esahi in his paper discussed cases for convergence of tax laws with international accounting/financial reporting standards. His paper also dealt with the issues encountered by tax professionals and tax administrators vis-à-vis the taxpayer companies.
Farooq Saeed, Chairman, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Zafar Aziz Usmani and Tanveer, Member, Policy and Tax Reforms, addressed the fourth session.
Chief Justice of Sindh High Court, Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed, chaired the concluding session.
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