NBR intelligence drive
At last, the National Board of Revenue has launched a drive to clean its house to augment revenue collection and has caught two small fries for obtaining undue cash benefit as per a report published in a daily newspaper on 29 December, 2005. This was the tip of the iceberg as big shots are remaining outside the mousetrap because of acute shortage of honest and dedicated mousers. It is true that most officials do live beyond their means but installation of close circuit camera or any other devices shall not deter them from their unlawful acts and they know the maneuverability well. No belt tightening measures shall act in our country, unless basic weakness or existing inadequacies in the tax administration system are eliminated. Enormous assessment power of an official with lack of accountability is a major cause behind poor tax collection. Ambiguity in interpretation or unlawful application of law with ulterior motive causes harassment to taxpayers often leading to compromise at the expense of government revenue and also drives away majority TIN holders from submitting tax returns. Large tax payers unit established a few years ago to check tax dodging by big business houses or large industrial establishments has now turned into a large beneficiary unit.
Corruption, an imperishable and immutable sin, has formed a part of our national life, which is inseparable too. Transparency International has been compiling only cases of public sector agencies published in the media but hundreds of private sector cases do not come under their purview.
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