Govt mulls ordinance to make depts share data with FBR

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker government is considering promulgating an ordinance for binding all institutions and departments at federal and provincial levels to integrate their data on a regular basis to find out potential new and under- filers.

The caretaker government on Thursday found that around 126 departments and institutions at federal and provincial levels are not sharing their data with the FBR in regular and desirable format, making it impossible to convert data into taxability.

To capture all kinds of financial transactions for broadening of narrow tax base, the government is considering promulgating an ordinance.

The FBR identified the departments that are not sharing their data on a regular basis. It raises the need for binding all departments through a Presidential Ordinance for getting the data. The caretakers are very tight-lipped on this issue in order to avoid any controversy over this issue.

The Ministry of Information Technology will assist the FBR to develop an integrated data portal by integrating it with all other departments. However, the FBR will be facing the challenge of converting data into taxability because in the past all such efforts had gone in vain.

Caretaker Minister for Finance Dr Shamshad Akhtar has directed the FBR to gear up efforts for visiting field formations for broadening of tax base instead of relying upon sending letters by sitting in offices, one official who attended the meeting under the Minister for Finance stated while talking to The News on Thursday.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) possessed data on almost 7.6 million registered National Tax Holders (NTN) but the number of active taxpayers was much less than this ballooned number. There are many nil filers so the need arises for cleansing the data for achieving the purpose of broadening the taxpayers of those who could contribute potentially to tax kitty.

According official statement issued by the Ministry of Finance and FBR on Thursday stated that Minister for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, and Privatization Dr Shamshad Akhtar held a meeting with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to discuss the acceleration of automation of FBR operations, at FBR headquarters.

Minister for IT & Telecom Dr. Umar Saif, Chairman FBR, and officers from Revenue Division, IT Division, and FBR attended the meeting.

During the meeting, the FBR team and the team from Ministry of IT and Telecommunication apprised the minister about the progress on comprehensive plan of automation of FBR’s functions, broadly encompassing tax collection and revenue management.

Dr. Shamshad Akhtar reiterated the government’s dedication to modernizing its fiscal systems to align with international best practices. She stressed the need for leveraging technology to strengthen the nation’s revenue collection mechanisms and promote economic growth.