Pakistan Business Forum opposes unconstitutional curbs, seeks simplified tax return

The Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) has opposed restricting public facilities to ineligible citizens for not filing tax returns, saying the proposed law appeared to be against fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution. In a statement, the PBF — a non-profit association of country-wide trade and industry — instead proposed that tax returns should be simplified to a one-pager as was the case in many other developing and advanced countries because cumbersome tax return forms were one of the key reasons behind poor tax compliance. It demanded that the proposed tax bill be viewed in the context of the constitution and that the federal government restructure the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and increase the use of technology.