The PRAL is a subsidiary of the FBR engaged in IT related projects, whereas "Mahassal", developed by an income tax team, is an end to end solution to all direct taxes related operations and electronic communication with the income tax-payers.
Sources told Business Recorder on Saturday that the issue came to the light during a presentation on "Mahassal", which was chaired by FBR Chairman Ahmed Waqar at LTU, Lahore on December 13. The meeting was attended by senior officials of the LTU, FBR members, PRAL officials, income tax officials and "Mahassal" development team. During presentation of the Project, Director of "Mahassal", categorically held PRAL responsible for creating hindrances in the smooth implementation of the "Mahassal" system. The situation became more tense when "Mahassal" development team and PRAL officials started arguing with each other in the presence of FBR Chairman.
The Chief Executive PRAL submitted technical viewpoint of the automation system. However, FBR Member Information Management System (IMS) opined that the "Mahassal" development team should be given an opportunity to run the system for two-way communication with the taxpayer for a period of one year.
FBR Chairman intervened and patiently heard viewpoints of all the relevant tax officials to ensure speedy implementation of systems, helping in audit and enforcement.
The basic difference between the FBR Web-portal and "Mahassal" Portal is that the former can only receive taxpayer data and the latter is intended to receive and dispatch information to the taxpayers.
The main issue is that "Mahassal" development team wanted two-way communication between the department and the taxpayer. The receiving of taxpayers data as well as dispatching notices etc would be done through "Mahassal" Portal.
On the other hand, PRAL wanted that the receiving of data should continue to be done by the FBR Web-Portal and "Mahassal" may partially use the system for only sending information to the taxpayers.
This incident clearly reflected that the internal departments of the FBR have to co-ordinate with each other for implementation of automation projects.
The presentation revealed that the system is ready to electronically interact with the taxpayers and it can also generate electronic notices to the taxpayers. The system is in a position to conduct all kinds of communications with the taxpayers. However, taxpayer side of the "Mahassal" has yet to be implemented due to delays and hurdles in the system.
Sources said that the FBR Chairman inquired about the issuance of notice electronically through "Mahassal" system. The practical demonstration of the withholding tax notice generated through "Mahassal" was shown on the spot. However, due to time constraints, FBR Chairman was unable to witness the complete presentation and asked the tax officials to discuss issues relating to "Mahassal".
It was conveyed to the tax authorities that automation was started since 1982, but the same is still not fully implemented and effective communication of data is not taking place. Beside other issues, "Mahassal" team alleged that the technical arm of the FBR is not supporting the "Mahassal" system.
The system can generate computerised notice to the taxpayer and taxpayer can communicate electronically with the department. The launching of "Mahassal" Portal would help in retrieving taxpayer data directly from the FBR Web-Portal. The two-way communication could effectively be done through implementation of the "Mahassal" Portal.
Chief Executive PRAL responded to these queries and submitted its viewpoint on the issue. Later, FBR Chairman decided that final decision on the launching of taxpayer side of "Mahassal" would be taken in view of suggestions of all the stakeholders. The next meeting would take place on December 23 when LTU, Lahore would convene an award ceremony to the largest taxpaying units and multinational companies of Lahore.
It is important to mention that the board had renamed Tax Management System (TMS) as "Mahassal" for speedy implementation of an home-grown system covering all income tax related functions including returns analysis, assessment and verification processes.
The project would be an end to end solution to all direct taxes related operations and maintenance of tax records. The project would cover documentation of income tax returns, calculation of taxes, raising demands, issuance of computerised notices, appeal system, taxpayer ledger and balance system and other operations of direct taxes side.
Officials of the PRAL were of the view that Mahassal is an internal system of the FBR, which should only be used by the tax officials. This internal system should not be exposed to the taxpayers as it is too risky to give access to the external users.
The FBR has already implemented a system 'Web portal' for communications for the taxpayers. This system could effectively be used for issuing notices electronically to the taxpayers. Under the best international practices the internal and external systems should operate separately to avoid unnecessary access of internal system to the taxpayers.