LAHORE: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Member Information Technology (IT) Khawaja Adnan Zaheer has said that the people should voluntarily come into the tax net as the number of taxpayers is alarmingly low in the country.
Addressing businessmen at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the Member IT also urged traders to convince their employees to file their returns and get benefits available for the filers.
He said that almost every employee pays his taxes and the paid taxes are shown in the books of the employers while the employees who actually pay tax are never shown in the book. When the employees themselves will file their returns they would be able to avail the facilities available for the filers.
He said that the FBR has started a service from which everyone in the country over the age of eighteen years would receive a SMS on his or her cell phone informing and inviting them to come to the tax net.
The FBR will be using the latest technology to educate the general public the benefits of being a filer and taxpayer, he added. Use the IRIS whole month in order to avoid the mess on the last date, the member IT urged the businessmen, adding that we should do away with the habit of doing everything on the last date of the month.
LCCI President Abdul Basit while lauding the online payment of the taxes by debit and credit cards hoped that the people would use the newly launched IT based tax payment system and make the economy strong.
LCCI Standing Committee on Economic Reforms Convener Kashif Anwar said that filing returns was never so easy and the professionals were must to complete the task.
H said that simplifications in the online IRIS system may help the people to file their return by themselves reducing their cast. LCCI Vice President Nasir Hameed Khan offered vote of thanks at the end. SVP Amjad Ali Jawa, ex vice presidents Aftab Vohra, EC member Khawaja Khawar Rasheed, Mian Zahid, General Secretary Shahid Khalil and others were also present on the occasion.