LAHORE: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue Haroon Akhter has said that a committee will be formed soon to address the reservations of business community on SRO 608.
He was talking to the 10-member delegation comprising Member National Assembly Pervez Malik, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, Vice President Nasir Saeed, former LCCI presidents Sheikh Muhammad Asif, Bashir A. Baksh, Mohammad Ali Mian, former LCCI senior vice president Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, Anjum Butt and Ali Pervaiz also spoke on the occasion.
LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad highlighted the key factors hampering the trade and economic activities in the country and sought the government’s help for their early solution.
Haroon Akhter said that business community is backbone of the economy and government is utilizing all resources to get the issues being faced by the business community solved at the earliest.
He appreciated the efforts made by LCCI for the resolution of various problems of the business community. He said that, being a businessman himself, he fully understands the gravity of challenges. He informed the LCCI President that he has been fighting hard for the cause of business community in the country.
Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, while apprising Haroon Akhtar about various issues being faced by business community, said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is misusing Section 38 of the Sales Tax Act 1990 as Sales Tax Department officials are using negative tactics to create an atmosphere of harassment for the importers as well as industrial sector by accessing their premises without giving any kind of notices whatsoever.
He said that the officials enter the businesses without prior notices or any intimation as par rules and regulations. Rather, the FBR officials along with a team of subordinates issue notices on the spot. They force the owners to accept their version of stock which is measured on just assumptions without using any well-accepted criteria. He also expressed his serious concern that the Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation, FBR is also hampering the business activities by probing into business premises without prior intimation.
The LCCI President further said that sales tax refunds pending with the department is another grey area. He said that the companies are facing problems when they file their refund claims, the department tells them that the company with which they had done business has been suspended / blacklisted, whereas the supplier company was active at the time of making purchases. How should a company foresee this problem?
The President proposed that the government should reduce the rate of Export Refinance Scheme to 3.5 percent from 4.5 percent for all other export oriented industries as it is already in practice for the textile sector.
LCCI Vice President Nasir Saeed said that the private sector is ready to supplement all government efforts aimed at revival of economic activities in the country if they are provided breathing space.
