LAHORE: All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran (APAT) said that the Voluntary Tax Compliance Scheme (VTCS) announced by the government would help expand the tax base in the country and strengthen economy.
There are over 3.5 million traders across the country who are keen to take advantage of the scheme, Ajmal Baloch President and Naeem Mir, Secretary General APAT said while addressing a press conference here.
He said currently only about 100,000 traders were paying taxes and this package would help hundreds of thousands more traders to enter the tax net.
He criticized those political parties which opposed the scheme, saying the traders from across the country were disappointed by their stance. He said the scheme was offered after traders struggled for almost six months.
The Secretary General APAT said the Voluntary Scheme was offered for small traders having income of up to Rs 50 million instead of billionaires.
He said in case opposition parties did not change their stance, the traders had the option to hold demonstrations and protests.
He requested the opposition parties not to involve traders in politics and should support the government’s positive decisions.
He said the Anjuman was a non-political organization so it should not be politicized. Naeem said the government had prepared the scheme in consultation with the business community and the introduction of the scheme was totally in favour of the traders
