ISLAMABAD: Following the previous years’ practice, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is carrying forward the process of finalization of budgetary proposals in a well organized manner.
Every year, before announcement of the federal budget, a comprehensive budget exercise is carried out by the FBR, wherein budgetary proposals are called from the trade bodies, chambers of commerce and industry from across the country and the field formations of the FBR.
The same are thoroughly scrutinized, meetings are held with trade bodies representatives, proposals are consolidated and forwarded to the federal cabinet during the budget for approval of the Parliament as Finance Bill.
A well informed source at FBR told Customs Today that FBR had dedicated specialized wings for this task, which addressed the issue of anomalies in fiscal laws by proposing amendments in the Finance Bill. Similarly for removal of difficulties in the administration of fiscal laws, FBR issues administrative guidelines to its field formations wherever intervention is required in smooth administration of tax laws.
On the customs side, the source said that the above exercise was being carried out at two levels; field formations, and FBR. Chief Collectors (Appraisement/Enforcement), Director Generals (Transit Trade/Valuation/ Intelligence & Investigation/Port Clearance Audit/ Internal Audit/Intellectual Property Rights etc), Collectors (Appraisement/Preventive/Exports/ Adjudication etc), Directors (Transit Trade valuation/ Intelligence & Investigation etc), Additional Collectors/Directors, Deputy Collectors/Directors and Assistant Collectors/Directors are involved in budget exercise in the field.
At FBR level, the source added that Member (Customs) as head of Customs Department, Chief Customs (Tariff/Facilitation Compliance/Exports & Exemptions), Secretaries (Budget/Tariff-I/Tariff-II/Tariff-III/Law and Procedure/ Enforcement and Coord and Export Policy/DRD/Grants and Special Exemption/Valuation & Audit) etc were carrying out this exercise.
The source said that Member (Inland Revenue Policy), Chief (International Tax), Chief (Sales Tax & Federal Excise Policy), Chief (Income Tax Policy), Chief (Law & Clarification), Secretary (Exchange of Information), Secretary (Tax Treaties & Conventions), Secretary (Transfer Pricing), Secretary (Sales Tax Budget), Second Secretary (Law & Procedure), Secretary (Income Tax Budget), Secretary (Rules & SRO), Secretary (Income Tax Policy), Secretary (Income Tax Clarification) and Secretary (Court Matters) were involved in this exercise.