FBR urges people to refrain from using smuggled goods

KARACHI: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has requested the people to refrain from using smuggled goods which adversely affects the selling and buying of local products, Radio Pakistan reported.

According to a statement issued by the FBR, the trend of buying smuggled items is negatively impacting the national economy.

The FBR asked the people to develop the habit of asking receipt from the retailer or a shopkeeper whenever they buy any product.

It said inculcating these habits will help boost the economy and will bring documentation of undocumented economy.

The revenue board appealed to the people to play a nation building role and show a true patriotic zeal.

A day earlier, FBR chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan drawing his attention to the faltering system of taxation.

Painting a grim picture of the current tax collection system, Zaidi said it is not sustainable for the coming generations because of the low level of tax collection which is even less than 10 per cent of tax-to-GDP ratio.

He said tax revenue is being generated through indirect taxes, adding a large number of people didn’t want to be part of the system.

Zaidi lamented less than 2 million people file tax returns, which accounts for just one per cent of the total population. 90 per cent of a total of 3.1 million traders are out of the tax net, he added.