May 03, 2024 (MLN): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday showed keen interest in the Contours of a Digital Tax Administration Project of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and agreed to explore ways to strengthen collaboration.
According to a press statement released yesterday, the ADB mission and FBR held discussions on the structural and policy reforms under the Domestic Resource Mobilization Program (DRM).
The ADB showed satisfaction with the successful rolling down of the DRM Program.
It was noted that significant achievements were made in the Sub Program I of the DRM program and due to the dedicated efforts of FBR, $300 Million was disbursed by ADB to the Government of Pakistan in December 2023.
Subprogram I laid down the foundations for improved policies, laws, and institutional capacity for the FBR.
Subprogram II reforms are to be completed by the end of 2024 which will build on earlier actions to ensure full implementation and operationalization.
FBR apprised the ADB team that the Revenue Division, in line with the vision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to transform FBR into a Digital Tax Administration and keep pace with global trends, has embarked on a journey of digitalization focused on automation of its processes and digitalizing of the economy.
These initiatives reduce the cost of compliance of taxpayers, document the economy, expand the tax base and lead FBR on a sustainable path to revenue growth.
FBR will be collaborating with Karandaaz to develop a comprehensive digital strategy for realizing the digital transformation of FBR and its digitalization initiatives and their implementation.
