KARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has urged the Sindh government to bring down sales tax on services to single digit and improve tax collection on agriculture.
In its budget 2014-15 proposals for Sindh budget, the FPCCI suggested that the provincial government should gradually focus on increasing non-tax revenue through collection of user charges and fee.
The FPCCI noted that international donors and lending agencies had also been emphasising on increasing user charges in the head of water supply, sanitation, and other civic services.
In order to create efficiency in provision of these services and collection of revenue, it is suggested that government should use the ‘outsourcing’ of these services through contractual system on annual basis.
The apex body of the chambers stressed that additional taxes should not be levied for those already paying taxes, adding that the increase in tax collections should be made from those entities and individuals whose income has so far either been exempted from taxes or who had avoided paying taxes.
The FPCCI expressed the apprehension that shifting of services industries including financial institutions from the province if the provincial government did not reduce sales tax rate on services.
It has also been demanded that the Stamp Duty on Purchase Order (PO) at 0.2pc should be eliminated as it is a tax on ‘instrument’ and not on a transaction. The levy is currently enforced only in Sindh and therefore causes serious hardship for corporate sector.
