KARACHI: The Sindh government has started digitalizing the tax system, reports media.
Recently, the tax collection system of Excise and Taxation Department has been digitalized, which will enable taxpayers to pay their taxes without having to visit the offices, said Director General of Excise Aurangzeb Akbar Panwar while talking to media.
The provincial government has already digitalized land records, leading to automation of registration of property transaction process.
“Now the tax system has been digitalized, which will save the people’s time, reduce hassle, and bring convenience to their fingertips. Transparency will be promoted, and people will be able to pay vehicle taxes from the comfort of their homes,” he added.
The public will be able to pay taxes in minutes in a safe and reliable manner any time. The Excise and Taxation Department is committed to providing the best efficiency and convenience to the public, he said.
Officials in the provincial government term the digitalization of tax system a part of the government’s broader agenda for growth in tax collection for socio-economic uplift of the people.
“The Government of Sindh attaches great importance to development for the people. It aims to continue with its programs of investment in human capacity and public infrastructure for improved economic growth and human development. Public revenue is essential for continuing with these programs. There is a recognition that additional revenue to meet the developmental needs will only accrue from own source taxation,” Mohsin Fayyaz, Director of Policy Wing Finance, told media.
In light of this, the Finance Department has led and managed a process for development of a tax revenue mobilization plan. The Sindh Tax Revenue Mobilization Plan (STRMP) has been formulated to undertake wide-ranging tax reforms.
It is designed as a set of feasible actions to generate higher revenues while lowering the costs of compliance for taxpayers and enhancing equity and efficiency of taxation.
In the last eight years, Sindh has struggled to generate sufficient revenue to meet investment requirements in line with its development objectives. Tax revenue mobilization has been attenuated by lack of policy attention and weak tax administration in Sindh.
The Policy Wing Finance director said the plan comprises a set of activities to deliver results that cover a wide range of cross-cutting tax policy and tax administration issues including tax simplification, modernization of tax administration and taxpayer facilitation.
He said the latest digitalization of the Excise Department was aimed at providing convenience to the taxpayers in order to achieve voluntary compliance for higher tax collection. –INP
