ISLAMABAD: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has strongly recommended that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should ensure a taxpayer-friendly automated system removing the flaws and doing away with the discretion to expand the sales tax net.

Talking to the media, the FTO officials informed on Tuesday that the expansion of the tax base in Pakistan is recognised as an essential policy goal to increase domestic sources to reduce foreign aid dependence.

However, the integration of businesses with the point of sales (POS) is a big challenge for both the FBR and businesses alike for multiple reasons.

First, is the complexity of legal provisions for POS integration; second, are glitches and delays in the automated system of the FBR.

Overall, the integration process is fraught with procedural delays and systemic limitations. It is yet to be analysed whether the scheme has made a sizeable contribution to raising the revenue and how successful is the process of monitoring the taxable activities through POS integration.

It is recommended that while carrying on with the aim of more integration, the FBR should ensure a taxpayer-friendly automated system removing the flaws pointed out in a study, and doing away with the discretion by more and speedy automation systemic improvement, the officials added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023