FBR task force sets up four groups for digitalization drafts

August 14, 2024 (MLN): The Task Force on Digitalization of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) held its first meeting yesterday in which it was decided to establish four working groups to draft recommendations, which will be presented in the next meeting on August 21, 2024.

Gohar Ahmed Khan, Ghazi Akhtar (to be supported by Mr. Ziad Bashir) Asif Peer and Tania Aidrus (to be supported by Mr. Ghazi Akhtar) were made conveneors of these Working Groups, said a press release issued yesterday.

The meeting was chaired by Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervez Malik and co-chaired by DG C41, Major General Syed Ali Raza.

In his opening remarks, State Minister for Finance said that Prime Minister of Pakistan has constituted the Task Force to submit recommendations to completely digitize all the systems of FBR.

‘If the country needs to transition to a more inclusive and sustainable growth then end-to-end-digitization of FBR is imperative’, stated the State Minister.

He explained that the ultimate goal of Task Force is to formulate such policy interventions which can improve efficacy of FBR to further build up revenue stream for the country.

Speaking on the occasion, DG C41 said that the end result of reform agenda of the Government is to increase tax-to-GDP ratio of the country for enhanced revenue generation.

He emphasized upon focusing on implementing the various initiatives to achieve fruitful results.

Chairman FBR said that the Revenue Division is committed to maximize revenue through implementation of data automation and software solutions and impressed upon committee members to come up with practical recommendations to achieve the given task.

He stressed the need for integration of systems and deployment of new systems to modernize the tax agency enabling it to achieve its future targets.

On the occasion, Ali Malik from the consulting firm Mckinsey gave a comprehensive presentation on the progress that has been made towards digitization of FBR. He explained that the firm is focusing on two major areas.

First is the overall digitization of FBR and the second is to identify and implement quick wins. It was further informed that data sharing among key stakeholders was underway to ultimately compile a high quality data to identify non-filers and those dodging the system to evade their taxes.

It was also told that four wins in the areas of income tax, sales tax, customs duty and collections have been identified based on global experience and data available within FBR.

This was followed by a detailed discussion on Terms of References (TORs) of the Task Force which included data sharing both vertically with the provinces and horizontally across Ministries, supply chain automation, Track & Trace System through integrated system, restructuring of PRAL and trade data sharing interface with trading partners.

It was agreed that there is a need to devise a robust data sharing mechanism for sharing of real time data among major stakeholders to identify the potential taxpayers for broadening of tax base.

The meeting emphasized that the use of latest technological interventions and automation of FBR systems can lead towards a more formalized and documented economy for sustained economic development of the country.

The Task Force decided to co-opt members from SECP, State Bank, Ministries of Commerce and Foreign Affairs, and invite them in future meetings.

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