Punjab government reviews tax reforms policy

Lahore: Provincial Finance Minister Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pasha has said that Punjab government is introducing Public Financial Management Reforms for harmonizing provincial finance policy with the demands of 21^st century. She said that the aim of these reforms is to extend the scope of Punjab financial management at government level.

She expressed these views while presiding over a meeting regarding tax reforms policy. Officials of Excise & Taxation Department, Board of Revenue and Punjab Revenue Authority besides representatives of World Bank and DFID were present on the occasion. The Minister said that under public financial reforms, strong linkage will be developed between government policy and allocation, designing system for efficient release of funds and their effective utilization. She said that process of release of funds will be regularly monitored.

Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pasha said that technical assistance is being sought from World Bank, DFID and GIZ for reforms in finance policy which is proving very fruitful. She said that with the consultation of World Bank, surveys are being conducted for the identification of tax payers and scrutiny of their particulars under the head of revenue mobilization. She said that changes are being brought at administrative level for improving tax recovery system. Besides financial system is being divided into different units for improvement and every unit will perform its specific responsibility, she added.

Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pasha said that such a system of unit has never been introduced at government level but it is need of the hour. She said that allocations were made on the basis of input in traditional method of budget preparation but now allocation is under consideration on the basis of output which will leave positive impact on achieving the objectives of research policy.