ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched an automated currency declaration system to facilitate taxpayers and passengers flying in and out of the country.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin, presided over the launching ceremony at FBR headquarters. Chairman FBR/Secretary Revenue Division Dr Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, Chairman NADRA Tariq Malik, and DG FIA Sanaullah Abbasi were present on the occasion.
Speaking to the gathering comprising of all FBR Members, dignitaries, senior officers and media representatives, the finance minister congratulated Chairman FBR and his team for making this long-awaited initiative possible in a short period of time.
He stated that the government was focusing on the documentation of economy to broaden the tax base. “This aim can only be achieved through the use of technology and automation with review of existing procedures and processes,” he remarked.
He further added that inter-agency coordination and cooperation was essential for the success of all efforts of business process re-engineering and adoption of new framework for implementation of rules and regulations. “To achieve the goal of documentation of economy and to bring more transparency in the economic transactions, documentation of flow of foreign currency in and out of the country is pivotal,” he continued.
Presently, Currency Declarations (CDs) are obtained randomly from the passengers coming to or going out of the country through Airports. Currency Declarations are manually secured in the shape of hard copies and are then entered into the system manually in batches.
For millions of passengers coming in and going out from the country, it is an uphill task with very little resources in comparison with the challenges faced by Pakistan Customs and other Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). Since the current Currency Declaration System (CDS) was not working to achieve the goal of complete documentation of foreign currency movement, a new system was envisaged by FBR.
This digital system was developed with the assistance of NADRA and FIA and will now be deployed at all International Airports, starting from Islamabad International Airport. “This new system will be a hassle free and time saving, one stop solution for all incoming and outgoing passengers,” Finance Minister remarked.
FBR is also working on securing data from banks and State Bank of Pakistan along with integration of Currency Exchange Companies with POS. This will culminate into greater visibility and capturing information which could then be used for analysis or audit purposes.
The data captured through POS and CDS will then be shared with all relevant agencies including SBP, FIA, Customs, IRS etc. for further necessary action as per law. This end-to-end visibility of foreign currency market will bring a semblance of stability in the market and will also be instrumental in countering money laundering and currency smuggling.
