LAHORE: All Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries and Associations Convention on FBR discretionary powers unanimously reached the conclusion that the Federal Board of Revenue officials’ discretionary powers should be given to the officials not less than the ranks of Members FBR while the powers should, at once, be seized from the lower staff which is causing more harm not only to the business community but also to the national economy.
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Abdul Basit said that FBR discretionary power are creating problem and traders will go to every extent against the misuse of powers for the vested interests. He said that FBR officials are exploiting businessmen due to which tax net is also not being enhanced to the desired level.
He disclosed that at least 5,00,000 taxpayers have quit the tax net and nobody was there to bother about it. He said that if the FBR. “Ports are not clearing consignment in five day due to which we have to pay demurrage and thus there is dire need to increase clearance days from five to seven days,” Nasir Hameed, LCCI Vice President said adding that from
1 April is final date for the government to accept traders and industrialist demands and settle matters with then by April 1 or they will decide accordingly.
Karachi Port Trust Harom Farooqi said that Budget proposals are demanded from the stakeholders while they have never been considered besides no one is ready to listen to traders and industrialists for the last four year.
“FBR bureaucracy has manipulated to tighten traders and industrialist by including in finance bill the long resisted controversial section,” he said, adding that 2.5 percent of the total population is taxpayer which thought provoking.
He said that the government is not paying back refund and rebate to the exporters and the backlog has reached to a record high which in other words can be called as another circular debt in the form of refunds and rebate is in the offing.
Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Raja Amir Abbasi said that businessmen should be respected as 63 pc of the total collection is being done by them while just FBR is collecting 1/3.
Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry representative Zafar Iqbal said no new taxpayers really wanted to come in the net seeing plight the existing taxpayers.
Gujrat Chamber Of Commerce president Imran Saeed said neither the government nor FBR is taking notice of the grievances of the business community despite several conventions held by the business community.
Ex LCCI president Sheikh Shahid Hassan said that FBR has not been refunding ST refunds due to the reason that FBR has shown the refund as collection not liability.
Punjab PML-N Traders Wing president Muhammad Ali Mian, Anjum Nisar said unity must to resolve the FBR discretionary power.
