at Sheraton Hotel, Karachi
5th August 2010

“Measures to enhance Transparency in Tax Collection & the role of Federal Tax Ombudsman” was the topic for the seminar which was held on August 5, 2010 at Sheraton Hotel by Transparency International Pakistan.


Mr. Syed Adil Gilani, while giving the opening address, said that Pakistan would not have to resort to borrowing if corruption is eliminated from the revenue collection alone. He recommended the application of Rule of Law across the Board without any discrimination in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), while commending the performance of Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) who has cleared all cases in one year.


Speaking on the occasion Mr. Nazim Haji, M.D. Alucan (Pvt.) Limited, said that we can only come up with solutions if we stop playing the blame game between tax collectors & tax payers and accept the weaknesses on both sided of the divide.  Mr. Haji also presented some macro level examples of corruption which have become standard operating procedures in the various tax collecting departments. The purpose behind these examples was not ridiculing the tax collecting authorities but to give them a wake up call. Mr. Nazim Haji also discussed some suggestions leading to solutions to break the vicious corruption cycle and tax evasion.  He was of the view that with internal auditors and monitoring in FBR coupled with the FTO there is no reason why credible tax collecting machinery cannot be created.


Director Float Securities (Pvt.) Limited, Mr. Khalil Ahmed, pointed out that the percentage of tax paying population is amongst the lowest in this region.  Factors such as mistrust, rampant corruption, misuse of arbitrary power and vast discretion combine to worse the situation. Mr. Ahmed suggested that there should be special cells of FBR to motivate tax payers by assisting them in filing returns. He also stressed on the need of minimum contact between the tax payer and the tax collector.


Mr. Munir Qureshi, Member Customs, FBR, spoke of the reforms that the government had made over the years and promised that FBR would not go back on the automation process. He said that post custom audit, internal audit mechanism and quick actions taken against complaints add to the transparency in the department which is evidenced by the fact that action was taken against several senior officials.


Mr. Sohail Ahmed, Chairman FBR, said that the international agencies are satisfied with the reforms made in FBR and have agreed to support it for another two years. He gave his feedback on suggestions given by previous speakers agreeing with some while rejecting others on the ground that these will discourage honest tax payers. He informed the participants that measures are being taken to bring people into tax net. He acknowledged the role FTO is playing in helping FBR achieve greater transparency.


The concluding session was addressed by the Federal Tax Ombudsman, Dr Muhammad Shoaib Suddle. He said that the FTO office has cleared all pending claims for the years 2005 to 2008 by December 2009 after he took over as FTO. He informed the audience that the FTO Office was being modernised through the use of information technology and Business Process Reengineering. He recommended that FBR should opt for open tendering to replace Pakistan Automated Customs Clearence System (PaCCS) has not been able to produce a compatible system and that FBR should continue to have e - clearance at Customs. He further stated that it has been reported that 60% of entries have been taken out of PaCCS and shifted to PRAL.


A question and answer session also took place in which active participation was made by the audience. This seminar was attended by approximately 150 guests belonging to various walks of life.