ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched the ‘Automated Currency Declaration System’ (ACDS) to facilitate air passengers to declare currency when flying in and out of Pakistan.
The FBR has developed this system with the support of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The new system replaces the existing manual system of random currency declaration at the airports. In other words, now all the inbound and outbound air passengers will have to declare currency at the time of travel.
Currently, the currency declarations are being obtained randomly from the passengers, coming to or going out the country through airports. The currency declarations are manually secured in the shape of hard copies and then entered into the system manually in batches, minister said.
Finance Minister said the existing currency declaration system was not working to achieve the goal of complete documentation of foreign currency movement, a new system was envisaged by FBR which is hassle free, time-saving, and a one-stop solution for all the passengers.
Finance Minister Senator Shaukat Tarin launched the ACDS at a ceremony held at the FBR headquarters in Islamabad on Feb 1, 2022. FBR Chairman Dr Ashfaq Ahmed, NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik and FIA Director General Sanaullah Abbasi were also present on the occasion.
Finance Minister Tarin said that the government was focusing on the documentation of the economy to broaden the tax base and this can only be achieved through the use of technology and automation with review of existing procedures and processes.
“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,” the minister further said.
Tarin emphasised the need for inter-agency coordination for the success of all efforts of business process, re-engineering, and adoption of new framework for implementation of rules and regulations.
Earlier, the FBR chairman explained the scope and significance of the ACDS. He reiterated that FBR had been swiftly moving towards automation and digitisation to promote transparency and reliability. He added that the new system would save time and ensure credibility, the press release said.
