ISLAMABAD: The government has pledged to register 0.3 million more tax payers with the help of physical surveys and withholding tax/third-party data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

This was revealed in the IMF report on the seventh and eight reviews of the extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility.

The report revealed Rs499 billion revenue measures were taken in the budget 2022-23 to meet the annual target of Rs7,470 billion. Out of this, direct taxes on wealth would generate additional revenue of Rs133 billion, direct taxes on high income earners, Rs211 billion; other direct taxes including personal income tax reforms (PIT) reforms to generate Rs110 billion and indirect taxes measures would generate Rs45 billion.

Non-active taxpayers: FBR urged to keep application of further tax in abeyance

Apart from measures already included in the Finance Bill 2023, the government has pledged not to launch any further tax amnesties or grant further tax exemptions or concessions through statutory regulatory orders without prior National Assembly approval and pledged to continue work on harmonization of service sales tax across provincial jurisdictions with the World Bank support.

The government has also committed to continue progress on the roll-out of track-and-trace that will create a solid basis for further revenue collection, notably from tobacco sales.

The authorities also seek to bring the service sector, notably retailers, into the tax net by making better use of data from tax collected through electricity bills on commercial connections.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022