ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for real-time verification of computerised National Identity Card and associated details.

An official announcement issued on Wednesday said linking Nadra and FBR systems will help improve FBR’s service delivery standards for taxpayers as it will help to automate tax refunds prefill data in withholding statements and tax returns.

It will also promote ease of doing business by saving time spent in regulatory compliance. In addition, this data linkage will facilitate the onward linking of FBR’s system with other organisations. This has a huge potential for the identification of persons who are either outside the tax net or conceal their income and assets.

In the last budget, the government has announced that FBR will get access to data of citizens captured in the Nadra database. The MoU was signed in line with the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Meanwhile, the FBR has launched the Maloomat TaxRayApp on its website to facilitate the taxpayers’ and the general public to get information about their assets and withholding deductions to file their annual tax returns correctly.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2020