Federal Board of Revenue will deduct Rs 50 billion from the refunds of textile mills which was collected from the ginners at the rate of one percent and they did not deposit it in national funds, said FBR Inland Revenue member (operation) Dr Muhammad Irshad while addressing the CEC of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association.
He said that all notices served on ginners would be withdrawn and they would feel themselves relaxed. He said that Tax law is being modified, simplified and drastic changes are being introduced in taxation system to make it tax-payers friendly. Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) Chairman, Nawab Shahzad Ali Khan presided the meeting. Chief Commissioner RTO Multan Khawaja Saleem Raza Asif, chief commissioner RTO Bahawalpur Ghazanfar Abbas also joined them. He assured that ginners' refunds would be cleared immediately and we would pay all refund claims before July Ist, 2016.
After listening the problems faced by the ginners he ordered to Chief Commissioners of Multan, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad and Hyderabad to withdraw notices served them and a committee comprising the representatives of PCGA and tax-managers be formed to resolve all the issues to bring both the tax-payers and collectors on one page. Ginners complained that FBR was issuing notices to ginners (who are not defaulters) instead of withholding tax agent to pay this amount. Upon this, Dr Irshad asked the Chief Commissioners to submit the list of defaulters we would deduct this amount from their refunds. He said that it was true that farmers as well as ginners have incurred a loss of Rs 200 billion due to decline of cotton production by 39 percent. Consequently government had also incurred a loss of Rs 2 billion at the rate of one percent. Member (I.R) operations stressed upon the ginners to cooperate with the tax department for enhancing government revenues and contributing towards economic stability and prosperity of the country. Nawab Shezad Ali Khan apprised the member about the problems being faced by them in particular with respect to the "Binola"s quality and quantity in raw cotton. The member FBR issued directions to the Chief Commissioners and other senior officers to promptly address ginners' problems. He also advised them to give timeline for resolution of these issues. Dr Mohammad Irshad emphasized that FBR has fully authorized and mandated the Regional Chief Commissioners to resolve tax payers' problems at their doorsteps.
He said FBR, being the sole institution responsible for resource mobilisation and revenue generation, faced a difficult task of gathering tax revenue, but the strenuous and dedicated efforts of the FBR's officers and workforce helped broaden the tax base.
Dr Irshad told the participants that FBR had also increased the cost of doing business for the non-filers, while CNICs had also been converted into NTNs to track down potential taxpayers through their routine financial transactions.
To another query, Dr Irshad said the FBR had formulated a strategy to go after the tax-evaders by using information obtained from their transactions in the real estate sector, purchase of vehicles, foreign travels and also by accessing, in the long run, their bank accounts to assess the extent of tax evasion.