Tax Reform Groups form 5 sub groups

ISLAMABAD, Aug 12 (APP): Federal Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh here on Friday constituted five working groups for the institutional improvement in Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to enhance revenue collection in the country.A meeting of sub-group of the Tax Reform Co-ordination Group (TRCG) was  held here under the chairmanship of Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and discussed strategy of revenue collection for the financial year (FY) 2011-12.The groups including Revenue Performance Group, Special initiatives group, Institutional Improvements Group, Outreach Group and Tax Policy Group.The Revenue Performance Group will focus on developing and refining the  tax estimates for FY 2011-12 by disaggregating the data into sectors, by regions and months.
Specific estimates will be set for each field office. The Group will develop a system for enforcement and review of these estimates, while Special Initiatives Group will focus on developing action plans for expanding the income tax base, sales tax incentive scheme and other special initiatives to be taken by FBR.The issue of Customs valuations and Afghan Transit Trade will also be discussed in this group. Institutional Improvements Group will focus on technology issues, human resource issues, monitor refunds and improving the transparency  in FBR.The Outreach Group will interact with the taxpayers, media, organizations such as NADRA and Planning Commission for any research help, interact with the National Assembly and provincial assembly and provincial governments to project the work being done by FBR and get input of different stakeholder. The Tax Policy Group will develop policies for the longer term.
Earlier, FBR presented a strategic plan for revenue collection in FY11-12.Chairman FBR presented the collection details of FY 2010-11 and the provisional revenue figures of Rs. 105 billion for the month of July 2011, which shows a healthy growth of 36% compared to last year’s collection same month.The first meeting of revenue performance group will be held on Wednesday, 17th August 2011 in an effort to develop estimates within a week’s time. All the other groups will meet before Eid.
Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Chairman FBR, Secretary Finance,Chairman NADRA, Chairman SECP and officials of the Finance Ministry and FBR attend the meeting.