The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced that assessed value of immovable properties located in major urban cities will be increased from 75% to 90% of the market rate through an official government notification that is expected to be issued in July 2024.

The FBR has planned to introduce a simplified tax scheme for retailers. The previous Tajir Dost Scheme, which was voluntary, was deemed a failure, so the FBR intends to try a new simplified approach for the retail sector.

During a discussion with reporters after a Senate panel meeting, Senator Faisal Vawda stated that the federal budget for the upcoming year will be passed regardless of the circumstances or obstacles encountered. He emphasized that the budget will be approved at all costs.

FBR’s Member Inland Revenue (IR) Operation Mir Badshah Wazir highlighted revision of valuation rates of properties soon after approval of the budget 2024-25, which is to be increased.

The Senate panel recommended abolishing 10 percent GST on newsprint.

The FBR stated that they have made efforts to expand the tax base, adding 1.5 million new tax filers in the previous fiscal year.

Senator Anusha Rahman argued that without drastic measures, the number of tax filers will not increase significantly. She proposed jailing non-filers as a solution.

The FBR informed that the total number of tax filers is around 4.5 million, but Senators Farooq Naek and others inquired about the number of “nil-filers” - those who file taxes but report no taxable income.

The FBR officials acknowledged that over 30% of filers could be “zero-filers”, but they declined to provide the exact number of nil-filers.

The FBR stated that their tax authorities uncovered Rs 756 billion worth of alleged tax fraud through fake/flying invoices, and arrested 70-80 individuals.

The steel sector was identified as a major source of these fake invoices and scrap steel-related schemes, causing estimated annual losses of Rs 60-70 billion to the national treasury.

“We have been hearing for the last 12 years that FBR is doing this and that to bring the undocumented sectors into to the tax net but the fact of the matter is that it has done nothing,” Senate Standing Committee on Finance Chairman Saleem Mandviwala said.

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