SOHAIL SARFRAZ

ISLAMABAD: The Professional Accountants Forum, Pakistan (PAFO) has urged the Finance Ministry and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to immediately publish income tax and wealth directories of parliamentarians for tax years 2020 to 2025 to help build public trust and encourage voluntary tax compliance.

In a letter to the Finance Minister, PAFO President Muhammad Iqbal requested the government to direct the FBR to make available the Parliamentarian Income Tax and Wealth Directories for the six tax years, arguing that greater transparency among parliamentarians would strengthen taxpayers’ confidence in the tax system.

PAFO said the publication of such directories would also help motivate citizens, particularly businesses and traders, to voluntarily pay their due taxes.

The forum described itself as a group of financial and economic experts comprising members of professional bodies, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP), MBA and other business professionals and reputed accounting and business institutes in Pakistan and abroad.

According to PAFO, the government and FBR have identified significant tax-compliance gaps in parts of the business, retail and trading sectors, including non-compliant traders and businesses operating in the informal economy.

The forum referred to recent government statements and media reports regarding action against individuals and businesses allegedly involved in the informal economy and tax evasion, as well as the government’s efforts to bring small traders into the tax net.

PAFO also cited reports that only 181 retailers had filed returns under the government’s Aasaan Tax Scheme against an estimated potential base of 3.5 million retailers.

The forum’s research team maintained that a “trust deficit” exists because the Parliamentarian Tax Directory has not been published after tax year 2019. It noted that the directory for tax year 2019 was published in January 2022, while subsequent directories for tax years 2020 to 2025 have not been made available on the FBR website.

PAFO has therefore recommended that the FBR immediately publish the Parliamentarian Income Tax and Wealth Directories for tax years 2020 through 2025.

The forum further said that the FBR had repeatedly highlighted its artificial intelligence capabilities and argued that the tax authority should demonstrate such capabilities by ensuring transparency at the highest level, including among parliamentarians.

PAFO said publication of the directories would help create greater trust in parliamentarians and, in turn, encourage businesses and traders to fulfil their tax obligations voluntarily.