Hopes FBR chairman, Member Customs prove instrumental in purging dept of black sheep
LAHORE: It is an open secret that Customs procedures are already far difficult and the blatant misuse of powers by the customs staff at various ports has further added insult to the injury which is alarming for the growth and development of the country.
These views were expressed by Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice President Nasir Hameed while talking to Customs Today here the other day.
He informed he has received number of complaints that the appraising staff at the various ports are creating hurdles in the clearance of legal consignments for their vested interests.
He added that the business community has already been facing monumental challenges in the current working conditions and customs port officials’ delaying tactics have further made the things more difficult for the businessmen.
He said that there is an urgent need for the removal of bottlenecks deliberately created by the customs officials and further customs procedures should be simpler for a sustainable growth and development.
He also mentioned about complaints by importers who import raw material for making finished goods to export them and the principal appraisers especially PA Ibrahim Khan at R&D Port Qasim are blackmailing the importers and misusing their powers. He said that such practices on the part of the customs officials are intolerable in any way.
If the customs officials at the Port Qasim do not put their house in order, the chamber would be free to go every possible extent for the redressal of importers issue, Nasir stated that.
He said that blackmailing and misuse of powers by customs Port Qasim staff has inflicted huge losses on the national exchequer and it cannot be tolerated further.
Businessmen have got sick of the uncalled for hurdles and impediments created by some of the customs PAs and officers and due to the very reason over fifty percent of the businessmen have done away with doing business which is not a favorable trend in a developing country like Pakistan where ease of doing business is already at the lowest ebb.
Answering a question, Nasir replied that Section 38-B of Sales Tax Act, 1990 is another tool in the hands of the tax collectors which is doing more harm than good as the tax officers are unjustifiably harassing the business people.
He suggested that tax department should visit the markets, if necessary, but they should immediately stop harassing business community.
“FBR should stop harassing filers as non-filers and ones outside the tax net are not accounted for at all which discourages businessmen to come into the tax net. Registered businesses are required to comply with various rules involving whereas unregistered businesses are free from all such hassles”.
He said that newly appointed FBR chairman Dr. Irshad and Member Customs Muhammad Zahid Khokhar are upright and competent officers.
The LCCI vice-president hopped that both officers would do the needful in purging the department of black sheep in larger national interest.
