Prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, has directed the authorities to strictly crack down on tax evasion and smuggling in the cigarettes manufacturing sector. He gave the directions while chairing a meeting to devise a strategy to clamp down on smuggling and tax evasion in the tobacco industry.

He also directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to increase the tax base of the country and to meet its targets of tax collection. He said that tax evaders should be strictly dealt with and that they should be brought under the force of law. He stressed on the need to use modern technology to find people who were not paying their taxes, adding that reforms proposals should be made and presented before the cabinet.

The Prime Minister was told that ‘track and trace systems’ have been installed in most of the cigarette manufacturing plants of the country. The meeting was further told that these measures have resulted in increased tax collection from the cigarette industry. From July to December, PKR 83.5 billion have been collected in revenues from the industry which is a 26% increase in the same months over the previous year.

Shahbaz Sharif directed the FBR to improve its tax system, and to further accelerate the process of reforms in the system. Federal Minister for Finance, Ishaq Dar; Minister for Interior, Rana Sanaullah; Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Tariq Bajwa; Chairman FBR, Asim Ahmed, and other senior officials attended the meeting.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk