FAISALABAD. Commissioner Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) Imran Hayee Khan has said that Notices issued by Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) to already registered institutions with FBR would be withdrawn; however action against unregistered persons will continue as per law.
He was addressing a meeting of business community in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) here today. Chaudhary Muhammad Nawaz President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) presided the meeting. Asad Aziz, additional Commissioner PRA Faisalabad was also present in the meeting.
Commissioner PRA said that sales tax on services was earlier collected by FBR but after 18th amendment its recovery was devolved to the provinces and as a result Punjab Revenue Authority was constituted in 2012.
He contradicted the apprehensions that PRA was imposing any new tax. He said that only collecting agency has been changed. He also rejected the apprehension of double taxation and said that as PRA was in its nestling stage there are some ambiguities and misconceptions. However we are open to rectify any anomaly, he added.
He further said that his visit was aimed to cultivate good working relations with FCCI and business community of Faisalabad and he requested Ch Muhammad Nawaz to nominate a focal person of FCCI to deal with the issues relating to the PRA. He admitted that there were differences between rates of tax collected by FBR and PRA and said that these issues would be address positively by December this year paving way for the institutions to register with the PRA for payment of sales tax on services. He also explained that PRA was in line with FBR and tax payers would not face any problems in the adjustment of their input charges etc.
Imran Hayee said that initially this tax has been imposed on 59 kinds of services. He also provided a list of services on which it has been imposed and requested business leaders to study it and submit their reservations if any in written form so that the same could be addressed.
He also assured that President FCCI would be given representation in the advisory council of PRA and hoped that FCCI will help in facilitating its members to switch over from FBR to PRA as regards the payment of this provincial levy (sales tax on services).
Earlier, Ch. Muhammad Nawaz President FCCI briefly explained the economic importance of Faisalabad and role of FCCI. He said that business community is not satisfied with the existing taxation system. He was of the opinion that tax collection is basically the responsibility of the government but this task has been entrusted to the business community.
He said that our taxation system is neither equitable nor fair and uniform. Moreover, due to the unfriendly attitude of the tax collectors no one wants to enter in to the tax net. He said that government has clamped much kind of taxes. In other countries the sales tax collected from the individuals who do not fall within the taxable limit are returned automatically. But this is not the case in Pakistan. He said that government has failed to clear the refund cases of exporters to the tune of Rs 200 billion which is constantly punching the business community.
He said that government should not collect such withholding taxes for which the government has not the capacity to reimburse. Business community has complaint of multiple taxes, but he will prefer to leave this issue to the participants of this meeting, he added.
Senior Vice President Syed Zia Alam Dar Hussain, Vice President Jameel Ahmed, Rana Sikandar-e-Azam, Chaudhary Muhammad Boota, Mian Farhan Latif, Haji Muhammad Shafiq, Haji Talib Hussain Rana, Chaudhary Talat Mehmood, Dr. Khurram Tariq and Sanaullah Khan Niazi raised various issues.
