New Tax Collecting Department named Provincial Bureau of Revenue should be created in each Province for effective Tax Collection

            The Federal Government’s Budget has brought relief to the people in many areas in shape of abolishing or reducing many taxes but the main apprehension is that whether the Government would succeed in the accumulation of taxes required for making up of the budget deficit? Dependence on FBR has been increased for the collection of the targeted amount of taxes but a question arises whether the FBR is capable in the present condition to achieve the desired target. Only the honesty, competence and innovative nature of its Chairman are not sufficient to run the whole department. Whether the officials of the FBR themselves search the taxable persons or they would depend on others to give them information is another question which also needs to be answered.

            In my opinion, there should be one Tax Collecting Department at the Provincial level which should have one controlling officer at the Provincial level who should be controlled by the Chairman FBR at the Federal level. The name of the tax collecting department should be Provincial Bureau of Revenue at each Provincial level and its officials should have hierarchy at each Tehsil or Town Committee or Union Council. Dependence on other departments for the data is not an effective system because sometime the data may be insufficient or defective.

            When the search work is extended down to the Union Council then no taxable person would escape from the tax net whether he may belong to the Agriculture, business, manufacturing or a person having other immovable property liable to be taxed. The tax collecting department should have sufficient number of persons to accomplish the job without the assistance of any other department.

            When in each village, there is a lowest revenue official called Patwari, Girdawar, Kanungo, Naib-Tehsilar and Teshildar, who possess the exact record of each person’s share in the land property in such manner the Provincial Bureau of Revenue should have officials at each village in possession of the record of all the persons liable to be taxed and should also update the record of fall or rise in the wealth of the people.

            The Federal Finance Minister has rightly said that there should be only two taxes, Income Tax and Sales Tax but I add with it that there should be effective system for the collection of these two taxes. Instead of appointing new persons at the Provincial level, persons from the existing departments relating to the tax collecting should be given jobs down at the village level like the Patwaris or the Police officials. Dependence on others or temporarily borrowing officials is not the solution of the matter.

            Websites need to be created having information regarding the taxpayers at each Union Council level in the Country so that each taxpayer may know who is paying tax or who has escaped taxpaying in connivance of the official of the PBR. When any such missing is brought in the notice of the highest authority that case should be specifically investigated and the relevant official be brought to book for the missing.

            Only a self-sufficient department and one department named PBR can do the job effectively and this department can be brought about by rearrangement of the existing tax collecting departments having persons of sufficient experience in shape of tax collection. It means that the concept envisaged in the present can be realised only by a new department brought into existence by merging old and new persons.

            The chances of litigation can be minimised only when realistic figures are collected and right persons are pinpointed in the information to the Federal Government for bringing them in the tax net. When wrong figures are given or wrong persons are subjected to tax then litigation starts because no one wants to be taxed improperly. Sufficient scrutiny can only be done when the officials have no hurry to show the efficiency. The officials should also be persons of character so that they may not create problems for the people. A specific kind of punishment should also be prescribed for the officials who are found in creating problems for the people.

            All the targets in the budget can be achieved if the PPP and the allied parties withstood the pressure of the Opposition parties or the big ones of the society. Politically speaking, the survival of the PPP is in the bold decisions at this stage. Moreover, the Government should normalize the relations with the Judiciary because we hear complaints in the remarks of the Judges about non-compliance of the Court’s orders which adversely affect the image of the Government.

            At present, people have enough regard for the Supreme Court and when they hear any deviation from the rules by the Government, they become unhappy. Therefore, good relation with Judiciary should also be the priority of the Government if it wishes to be victorious in the next election.

            The Creation of new department called PROVINCIAL BUREAU OF REVENUE is the need of the hour so that to search the 180 millions people for picking out the taxable persons.

Manzoor Ahmad Yousafzai

Sunday, 05 June 2011.