Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Orders Strict Action Against Tax Evasion
Islamabad, The Gulf Observer: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities to expand the tax net and take stringent measures against tax defaulters and non-compliance.
Chairing a pivotal review meeting on Saturday regarding strategies to enhance revenue collection, the prime minister was briefed on the implementation and monitoring of video analytics in the sugar industry. Highlighting the role of technology, the prime minister stated, “Improving the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) performance through technology is the government’s top priority.”
He emphasized that video analytics in the sugar industry would boost revenue collection, curb hoarding, and stabilize sugar prices. “Our utmost effort is to ensure the availability of sugar at affordable prices for the public,” he added, instructing authorities to regularly monitor sugar stocks to maintain an uninterrupted supply chain. Strict and indiscriminate action against tax evasion and under-reporting by sugar mills was also ordered.
Prime Minister Sharif stressed that FBR’s ongoing digitization measures would add billions of rupees to the national treasury. He directed the swift completion of FBR’s value chain digitization and urged the rapid implementation of video analytics in the cement and tobacco industries.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervaiz Malik, and senior officials.
Separately, the prime minister took notice of the non-implementation of recommendations from the inquiry committee on the Greece boat tragedy involving the deaths of Pakistani nationals in 2023. A three-member committee has been tasked to review the implementation status of the recommendations and identify officers responsible for inaction.
