MULTAN: We are ready to pay fair taxes on regular basis but we would not pay unfair and unjust taxes imposed by the Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) nor would avoid harassment ,” said Haji Muhammad Akram Bhatti Chairman of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) while presiding over a meeting.
He said that there was no justification to issue notices to ginners of Hyderabad, Karachi, Sukkur, Rahim Yar Khan and Faisalabad and freezing of their bank accounts.
He said that no incentive, concession or relaxation was given to ginners in the new budget for 2018-19 in spite of making assurance by the concerned authorities. He said that since the ginners are regular tax-payers and their concerns must be removed and their grievances must be redressed.
Haji Akram said that issuance of current notices and freezing of bank accounts and unjust deductions have disturbed the ginners’ community and affecting the business atmosphere in the country.
He said that anti-business measures of the taxation department are hampering business activities. PCGA chairman said that all the leading economies are giving incentives to expedite economic activities in their respective countries, but in Pakistan those at the helm of affairs are doing the opposite, at a time when almost all businesses face a number of internal and external pressures. Haji Muhammad Akram Bhatti said that they would also knock the door of court if their dispute would not be resolved by the FBR.
CEC of PCGA constituted an eight member committee unanimously to get resolve the problems confronted by the ginners. Suhail Mehmood Haral, Sheikh Aasim Saeed, Gopal Das, Mahesh Kumar, Sarfraz Nazim, Shehzad Ali Khan, Mukhtar Baloch and Mehtab Cheema are member of this committee.
This committee would contact the tax officials of Hyderabad, Karachi, Sukkur, Rahim Yar Khan, and Faisalabad to press the authorities for withdrawal of notices issued to Ginners in these districts.
Vice Chairman Gopal Das said that FBR had introduced its own system of liking and disliking .It had imposed tax only on one kind of oil-cake (khal) and left another five varieties untaxed and created a way of corruption.
He further said that influential people who are manufacturing animal feeds were exempted of all kind of taxes . Ex-chairman of PCGA Shehzad Ali Khan said that a sword is still hanging on our heads .
FBR can issue notices for the recovery of tax anytime. We should not stay in fool’s paradise when the budget had been announced and we should not attach further hopes with the bureaucracy of FBR.
He said that government should grant relief to ginning industry in taxes. Senior member Suhail Mehmood Haral and Sheikh Aasim Saeed said that our problems could be resolved by forging unity and expressing solidarity with each other.
Ex-chairman Masud A Majeed hoped that Chief Justice of Pakistan would announce the verdict of ginners case after his return to home. He said that tax-officers should wait for the decision of apex court and they should avoid to issue notices to ginners.
He further said that FBR authorities assured to resolve our reservations at a meeting arranged even on Sunday. Some member suggested that PCGA should avoid solo flight and it must take Oil mills association into confidence for joint struggle for settlement of taxation issue.
