Hafeez Shaikh for broadening tax net through use of data

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the PM on Finance, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has reiterated the need for broadening the tax net through the use of data, already available with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), without burdening the existing tax payers.
The adviser said this while chairing the 3rd meeting of the FBR Policy Board here at the FBR Headquarters on Thursday.
Hafeez Shaikh advised Special Assistant to PM on Revenue, Dr Waqar Masood Khan to formulate a proposal for liaison between National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) and Federal Board of Revenue for data analysis to fulfil the requirements of FBR and ensure all stakeholders are on board.
He directed that the Policy Board may also look into important issues that need special attention of the government regarding tax collection and trade management. He further directed that the next meeting of the Board may be convened after 2 weeks.
The FBR Policy Board approved the minutes of the previous meeting. The members proceeded with the discussion on the proposed terms of reference (ToRs) of the Policy Board, prepared by the Minister for Industries and Production, Hammad Azhar and Abdullah Yousaf, former Chairman FBR.
The subcommittee presented the proposed ToRs before Policy Board for discussion. The members of the Board gave their valuable input to fine tune the same. There was extensive discussion on the task assigned to another sub-committee which included Hammad Azhar and Faizullah Kamoka for designing a mechanism of data sharing between FBR and NADRA.
During the meeting, the chair also inquired on the progress of clearance of containers on the Torkham Border. The chair was briefed that the situation is back to normal at the Torkham Border and the trade is business as usual.
The current situation, due to the Covid-19, is no longer the cause of concern for the traders, the meeting was told. On the proposed ToRs, Hafeez Shaikh, after detailed discussion with all the members of the Board, gave certain guidelines to refine the proposed ToRs under the supervision of the Dr Waqar Masood Khan. – TLTP