PM laments ‘sabotage’ of tax tracing system

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday lamented the “sabotage” of a planned tax tracing mechanism development by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and described the automated system as “crucial” to check mass tax evasion.

Chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet here, the Prime Minister asked law minister Farogh Naseem to work on getting a stay order vacated by the Sindh High Court and “convince the Sindh High Court that the non-imposition of the automated system would incur loss of billions to the country”.

The Sindh High Court had issued a stay order on FBR’s proposed tax mechanism, for which the Prime Minister mentioned that FBR had given assurances to roll out the system by June. He said the FBR had been trying for the last 15 years to implement the Track & Trace System, but regretted that the move was “sabotaged” every time. Khan said big sectors of the economy including tobacco, cement and sugar were witnessing “mass tax evasion”, adding that the sugar industry alone “did not pay the tax of Rs400 billion in five years”. In tobacco industry, he said, only 19 per cent of the tax was paid by two big companies while the “40 per cent was being evaded” resulting in loss of billions to the country.

Khan said tax evasion led to the imposition of indirect taxes by the government which inflated the prices of commodities of everyday use. The FBR’s Track & Trace System aims at providing minimum human interface, preventing leakage of revenue, under-reporting sales of specified goods and to ensure proper payment of duty and taxes.

On Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), the Prime Minister said the system was important to ensure transparency in general polls and check corrupt practice of vote-purchase. He termed the provision of online voting for overseas Pakistan a priority of his government and stressed an effective strategy for its implementation.

The Prime Minister sought progress reports in every cabinet meeting on the matters of installation of EVM and voting process for overseas Pakistanis. The federal cabinet discussed several development projects on the agenda.