ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made a firm decision to make business extremely difficult for non-taxpayers from 2014-15 by raising cost of doing business for un-registered businessmen.
The FBR has categorically conveyed to all chambers, trade bodies and federations that business would be made extremely difficult for non-taxpayers from 2014-15.
The decision was conveyed to the representatives of all leading trade bodies, chambers and federations who gathered at the FBR House to present their budget proposals.
All chambers and trade bodies from Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sarghoda and other cities participated in the meeting that was chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. It has been informed that the un-registered businessmen would have to pay higher rates of withholding taxes from next fiscal year. The FBR will introduce such measures that the business would be made very difficult in the form of higher rates of taxes on un-registered sales and supplies and they would be forced to operate in the documented regime or leave the business.
The tax authorities conveyed the message to the business community that the FBR has proposed the government new budgetary measures for 2014-15 to increase the cost of non-active taxpayers as compared to active/registered taxpayers. The FBR has finalised different budget proposals to increase the cost of non-taxpayers as compared to the registered persons. In this regard, the FBR would move different budgetary proposals to the government for 2014-15. The FBR would incentivise people who were paying taxes and increase cost of doing business of those who were not paying any taxes. The cost of being non-taxpayer would be higher.
On the issue of single stage sales tax on lower rates, it has been decided that the representatives of business community and FBR officials would sit together and discuss the possibility of revamped sales tax regime. The representatives of the business community requested the FBR to restore the old system of self assessment scheme where every year higher rate of 10-20 percent tax has been paid and returns have been accepted by the FBR.
