By Abdul Wajid Khan ISLAMABAD, May 18 (INP-WealthPK): The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) says it is implementing several measures to achieve the tax target of Rs6,100 billion for the current financial year (FY22), reports WealthPK. According to an official report of the Ministry of Finance laid in the National Assembly, the Board is doing its best to facilitate the taxpayers in order to create a congenial environment and to fetch sufficient tax revenues. It said major initiatives had been taken and great achievements obtained in increasing tax revenue during the ongoing financial year. According to the latest provisional figures released by the FBR, despite massive tax relief, it has registered 28.6% growth in tax revenue from July 2021 to April 2022. The board has collected net revenue of Rs4,858 billion from July 2021 to April 2022 of FY22, which has exceeded the target by Rs239 billion. A number of innovative interventions have been introduced both at policy and operational level with a view to maximizing revenue potential through digitization, transparency, and taxpayers' facilitation. In inland revenue, Track and Trace System has been launched for tobacco and sugar sectors, while its rollout for cement, beverages and fertilizer sectors is in progress. The system is aimed at enhancing tax revenue, reducing counterfeiting and preventing smuggling of illicit goods by implementing a robust, nationwide electronic monitoring system through affixation of tax stamps on various products at the production stage. This enables the Board to trace the entire supply chain of the manufactured goods. Similarly, the Point of Sales (POS) Invoicing System launched by the central revenue collection agency is a pathway towards digitization. It is a real-time sales documentation system that links the electronic systems at the outlets of all tier-I retailers with the FBR through the internet. The system aims to ensure that all sales are reported in real-time to the FBR and are duly accounted for in monthly sales tax returns of such retailers. Likewise, to facilitate taxpayers, a centralized automated refund system has been introduced with no requirement for manual application and verification. The system-based verification system issues refund directly into the bank accounts of taxpayers without any face-to-face interaction with the tax authorities. An enabling legal framework has also been provided through insertion of relevant provisions in the tax laws. Building further on its vision to facilitate the taxpayers and to ensure ease of doing business through automation, digitization, and minimization of human interaction with the taxpayers, the FBR has launched Single Sales Tax Portal. This facility enables taxpayers to file single monthly Sales Tax returns instead of multiple returns on different portals; thereby, significantly reducing the time and cost of compliance. The system automatically apportions input tax adjustment as well as tax payments across the sales tax authorities; therefore, eliminating the need for reconciliation and payment transfers. In order to provide faceless tax administration, reduce compliance cost and save time of taxpayers, e-hearing mechanism has been devised. Mechanism of online filing of appeals has also been made available to the taxpayers. To facilitate the taxpayers, a free mobile application is available for android as well as iOS based smartphones. It offers various facilities to the taxpayers including registration for Income Tax and Sales Tax, return filing for salaried individuals and POS Invoice Verification. Inland Revenue Enforcement Network (IREN) has been established to check smuggling and counterfeit products. The Board has developed a centralized Risk based Audit Management System (RAMS) for selection of audit cases centrally on the basis of pre-determined risk parameters. Selection on scientific matrix allowing allocation and distribution of weightage to different parameters in Risk Grid will segregate the potential and high-risk cases for audit through parametric computer balloting. In Customs, Pakistan Single Window (PSW) system has been launched to achieve trade facilitation in an automated environment, reduce clearance times for legitimate trade, and improve compliance through increased access to regulatory information and functions. It ensures greater collaboration and coordination between the Customs and other border regulatory agencies at the national and international level for coordinated border management and enhanced transparency in regulatory processes and decision-making. The Pakistan Customs Wing has introduced a new automated process for scanning containerized import consignments of industrial raw materials for their speedy clearance at the ports. Web Based One Customs (WeBOC) has led to a significant reduction in the processing time. The introduction of the Non-Intrusive Inspection System by the Customs was a long-awaited initiative aimed at replacing the physical inspection of cargo and reducing the dwell time at ports by using the latest scanning technology in line with the international best practices. Virtual Assessment Module has been developed and deployed. This is a system based automated assessment of goods declarations on the basis of selectivity criteria. It will significantly facilitate the assessment process of goods declarations and reduce clearance time. Authorized Economic Module has been developed and deployed. It will help reduce port dwell time and customs clearance. The threshold for electric/digital mode has been lowered from Rs500,000 to Rs.200,000. This module will streamline the payment process and would reduce time. Common Bonded Warehousing Module has been deployed to streamline the matters relating to the common bonded warehouses.