$400m tax reforms project reviewed.

ISLAMABAD -- The World Bank and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR ) on Thursday reviewed the implementation status of various measures agreed upon for broadening the tax base and taxpayers' facilitation under the Pakistan Raises Revenue Programme (PRRP) soft loan of $400 million.

The PRRP was initiated in 2019 and aimed at 'contributing to a sustainable increase in domestic revenue by broadening the tax base and facilitating compliance'. Several meetings have been held between top officials of the World Bank and FBR since then to review its progress.

Major targets included increasing the tax-to-GDP ratio to 17 per cent, the number of active taxpayers to 3.5 million, reducing the compliance burden of paying taxes and improving the efficiency of customs controls.

An official announcement said that a meeting was held between FBR Chairman Asim Ahmad and World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine to review the progress of the programme. The FBR is implementing PRRP with financial assistance from the World Bank. Recently the World Bank concluded the mid-term review of the programme from October to November.

Based on initial findings, the World Bank has expressed overall satisfaction with the progress of the project due to major reforms in simplifying the tax regime, automating administration, expanding tax net, harmonizing GST etc.

An official of the FBR said that...