ISLAMABAD: After objections on members, the federal government has reconstituted the committee to resolve the issues created after the imposition of eight per cent minimum tax on services sector.
The government replaced Asim Zulfiqar, a Chartered Accountant at AF Ferguson and Co, with Habib Fakhruddin, a former member of Federal Board of Revenue and Naveed Andrabi with Abid Shahban.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had constituted the five-member committee to consider grievances of service providers in relation to the minimum tax imposed on the corporate sector through Finance Act, 2015. The members had been suggested by the FBR that failed to do its homework before recommending names to the finance minister. Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) had claimed that the committee members had a conflict of interest.
However, an FBR official refuted the impression that the decision to reconstitute the committee was taken after TIP’s claims. “Although the TIP raised objections, the government did not take the decision to reconstitute the committee under its pressure,” he said.
The reconstituted committee commenced its business on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Revenue Haroon Akhtar Khan. It decided to invite the service providers through their respective trade bodies, who filed representations before the federal minister and the FBR.
