RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) President Malik Shahid Saleem has urged government to document the informal economy. The share of informal economy towards Gross Development Product (GDP) falls around 27 percent, he added.
President Malik Shahid Saleem said that documentation of economy is vital for economic uplift and asked the government to introduce amendments in laws so that registration of income tax filing can be made hassle free.
The time has come for Pakistan to address inequity and to tackle the informal economy, which is considered a barrier to inclusive growth, he added.
He expressed hope that newly announced Assets declaration Scheme 2019 will not only intimate people to enter into the tax net but also helped government to document the economy. He said that Asset Declaration Scheme will enhance the tax base and bring benami and other unregistered assets in the formal economy.
He said that according to WB, Pakistan ranked 136 out of 190 countries in the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) index while it ranked 173 regarding ease of taxpaying.
RCCI President remarked that Chamber is ready to provide all time assistance and cooperation in organizing awareness session on the Scheme and we will invite FBR Chairman and other representatives from the finance ministry.
The wheel of economy must be back on track as soon as possible. Chambers are not against such amnesty schemes, we, however, always been vocal to make such scheme conditional to invest the capital in the industrial sector.
The lucrative Schemes aimed to help State treasury raising tax revenues, adding beneficiaries in tax base who have not declared their assets previously. However, at the same time, the beneficiaries must be directed to divert the white capital in industry so that we can have more job opportunities in a longer run, he added.
He also demanded that more incentives should be given to tax payers and reforms must be introduced in tax regime to help broadening the tax net and increasing the tax payers numbers.
