The government plans to expand the tax net to more than 22 million people with a documentary campaign from December.
According to the Dawn newspaper, a major campaign will be launched to expand the tax net and prevent theft.
The details of the project were discussed at a high level meeting chaired by Finance Advisor and Revenue Shaukat Tareen.
Shaukat Tareen has tasked the tax machinery to implement a phased strategy.
In this regard, a senior official said that the documentary campaign will start in December with a media campaign to attract people to join the tax net on a voluntary basis.
He added that people would be made aware of the legal implications if they did not enter the tax net.
The official explained that the documentary campaign identified more than 22 million people, including businesses and real estate, as taxpayers.
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The official said that data of 1.5 crore potential taxpayers was collected from National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) while information about the remaining persons was collected by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) from various sources.
According to the proposed scheme, notices will be issued to one lakh to three lakh persons per month.
“We will not issue a large number of notices, they will be properly monitored and followed at the level of regional tax offices,” the official said.
In addition, FBR Chairman Ashfaq Ahmed and his team gave a detailed presentation on the progress of preparations for measures to reach potential taxpayers to increase revenue and mobilize resources.
An official announcement said that the Chairman FBR informed the Finance Adviser that practical steps have been taken to collect the data in collaboration with NADRA, which will make the data accessible to potential and existing taxpayers through a web portal. Will be available in style.
The meeting also discussed key challenges, public awareness and confidence building measures to reach potential and existing taxpayers.
Shaukat Tareen stressed that effective and strong liaison with taxpayers should be the focus of activity to garner public support for broadening the tax base and fostering a culture of tax compliance in the country.
