Central Board of Revenue (CBR) Chairman Abdullah Yousuf has said that the process of reforms will continue in the CBR, but there will be no retrenchment in tax departments.
Addressing the income tax officers at Tax House here on Friday, he said, "Since we are entering into globalisation and regionalisation, we will have to prepare ourselves for the changes."
He said all the taxmen were educated and dynamic people, therefore, he was confident that they would accept these changes and prepare themselves for the future challenges.
He assured the officers that no retrenchment would be carried out in tax departments, therefore, they should not worry about it. However, their existing role would be changed in a bid to improve their working as well as creating a taxpayer-friendly atmosphere in the tax departments.
Appreciating the Universal Self-Assessment Scheme (USAS), he said, it was a good scheme aimed at facilitating the taxpayers. The scheme has helped a lot in restoring taxpayers' confidence in the department.
He also assured the officers that he would be available to listen to them and resolve their problems.
Abdullah Yousuf said that the Larger Taxpayer Unit (LTU) in Lahore would start functioning in four-five months, while five Medium Taxpayer Units (MTUs) would also be operational in the same period.
These MTUs were being established in Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta, Karachi and Faisalabad.
The CBR chairman, who was accompanied by Member CBR (Co-ordination) Saeed Ahmed Zaidi, also visited Lahore Dry Port, Sales Tax Department and Customs House. At Customs House Project Director Lutfullah Virk gave a presentation on LTU.
He apprised the CBR chief about the preparations for LTU being set up in the city.
He was also informed that as many as 300 cases of income tax and sales tax have been selected for the LTU.