Senate panel assured: FBR to replace banking instrument with insurance guarantee

The Federal Board of Revenue told a Senate sub-committee on Tuesday that it will substitute insurance guarantees for bank guarantees or cheques wherever the rules allow, according to Business Recorder. The move is intended to ease the banking difficulties faced by exporters and other businesses. The FBR also said the issue would be reviewed and settled.

The sub-committee, chaired by Senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood, met to hear business representatives on industry relocation out of Pakistan, governance inside the FBR, dual nationality among FBR officers, an industrial policy for growth, and steps to restore normal business hours. Senators Dr Afnan Ullah Khan, Bilal Khan and Jam Saifullah Khan attended as well. The convenor said a business-friendly climate is essential for expanding economic activity and raising tax collection.

The FBR said confidence-building steps include collaborative committees with business representatives. Under the Prime Minister's directions, the FBR chairman is to hold a camp office in Karachi in the first week of each month, with a two-day camp office planned in Lahore so traders avoid travelling to Islamabad. The convenor asked that these facilitation measures be passed to chief commissioners. Facial recognition technology was proposed for taxpayers whose fingerprints cannot be verified, with FBR and NADRA told to resolve the matter and FBR asked to submit details of officers holding dual nationality or permanent residence overseas.