SOHAIL SARFRAZ

ISLAMABAD: Taking a major reform initiative, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has withdrawn revenue collection targets assigned to the Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) to fully focus on taxpayer's facilitation, speedy payment of refunds, discovering new taxpayers, appeals, broadening the tax base and assisting taxpayers in accurate filing of returns and payment of taxes.

Sources told Business Recorder here on Monday that the Large Taxpayer Units (LTUs) and Corporate Taxpayer Units in the field formations would continue to pursue the monthly and quarterly revenue collection targets assigned for 2020-21.

However, there would be no more targets assigned for the RTOs during 2020-21.

The withdrawal of the revenue collection targets for the regional tax offices would enable the field officers to fully focus on expanding the tax net and taxpayer facilitation at the regional level, sources maintained.

According to the officials, this is for the first time that the FBR has taken away the targets given to the RTOs.

This would help the RTOs to focus on other areas instead of revenue generation.

This major reform initiative has been taken to ensure prompt payment of refunds to the taxpayer without any delay.

The RTOs have been instructed to ensure timely payments of sales tax and income tax refunds to the taxpayers.

The efforts of the RTOs would now focus on taxpayer's facilitation instead of pressurizing taxpayers to pay taxes for meeting the assigned targets.

Once there are no targets assigned for the RTOs, the new duties and functions of the RTOs have been implemented in the field formations.

This reform initiative is part of the FBR plan to assist taxpayers instead of issuing notices and recovery proceedings for generating additional revenue for meeting the assigned revenue collection targets.

The RTOs would also focus on appeals, alternative dispute resolution mechanism and other systems to reduce litigation between the taxpayers and the tax departments, they added.