Islamabad: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has notified the collection of PKR 209 billion in additional taxes during the first five months of the current fiscal year; with this increase attributed to the structural and procedural changes introduced in the country’s taxation system and the withdrawal of exemptions – a news source reported.
The report further noted that despite the slowdown of economic growth in the country, the recent tax reforms did lead to several benefits. The budget for 2019-20 had introduced a number of measures to remove structural flaws in sales tax, federal excise duty, and income tax. These three categories of taxes exhibited a growth of 25%, 23%, and 19% respectively.
FBR spokesman Dr Hamid Ateeq, while addressing the media, stated that a number of initiatives had been taken to remove these imbalances. However, he did note that the taxation regime still had some issues, such as constitutional roadblocks, sovereign agreements and an informal sector.
He added that the full impact of the structural changes would become visible when the economy returned to normal, after the imports go back to their previous levels and capital machinery picks up.
