Islamabad: The federal government has announced its decision to restructure the country’s tax machinery in a bid to introduce a centralised system for general sales tax (GST) collection on services and goods, a news source reported. Further, the proposed initiative includes the conversion of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) into the ‘Pakistan Revenue Authority (PRA)’ – with the latter expected to become operational by June 2020.
As per details, the officials concerned have suggestion the creation of a joint committee to monitor the centralised collection of GST. Members of the FBR, the Ministry of Finance and the provincial revenue boards are expected to be included in the body. A centralised system has been favoured under the proposal since cross-provincial jurisdictional problems hinder reaching the full potential of tax collection.
The Ministry of Finance is expected to prepare a framework for the PRA as part of the ‘Pakistan Raise Revenue Project’. The executive recently commenced with this programme in collaboration with the World Bank (WB).
According to reports, the FBR chairman will lead the new tax body along with two deputy chairmen, the heads of Inland Revenue Service (IRS) and customs.
The PRA is proposed to have secretary for the Revenue Division with four additional secretaries to cater to policy matters. Furthermore, the authority will have 14 members, with two of them specifically for transit trade and legal matters.
Restructuring of Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) is also part of the proposal, along with customs collectorates, district tax facilitation measures and large tax payers units (LTUs). Appointment of a chief information officer to automate income tax architecture on the lines of customs WeBOC-Glo to minimise human interface in tax administration and collection is also in the works. A chief executive might be appointed for the PRA in order to oversee the automation process.
