ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Member Inland Revenue and spokesman Shahid Hussain Asad has said that there is no difference between the people who are opposing the levy of withholding tax and those who were asking the people not pay utility bills and income tax last year during sit-in by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
During an exclusive interview with Customs Today, he said that withholding tax is only for non-filers and on banking transactions. “All those people who are regularly submitting their tax returns need not to worry about withholding tax,” he said. He also said that those persons who will file withholding tax will not be included in defaulters list. He also revealed that withholding tax is adjustable. A tax filer can claim return of withholding tax. If the amount of withholding tax exceeds than the taxable amount, then the remaining amount will be refunded to the taxpayer.
He further said that India is ready to impose a war on Pakistan and it is the national duty to strengthen the national economy, because sound economy is the backbone for defence of any country. He said that in the population of 180 million, only 0.9 million file tax returns, showing that only 0.5 percent people are in the tax net.
He said that in India the percentage of tax to GDP ratio is 17.7 percent, while in Pakistan, the percentage is 9.4 percent.
He appealed to the business community to submit their tax returns honestly so that the economy should gain momentum. Shahid Hussain Asad said: “If we lose a cricket match against India, the whole national becomes sad but we are far behind in strengthening of our economy as compare to India. We should take sound measures to defeat India in the field of economy also.”
Shahid Hussain Asad said that Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (RA), he announced “Jihad” against those who denied o pay zakat because it was the only tax which the government of the time obtained from wealthy people and used it on the betterment of the people.
He remembered that in 1965, the then President Field Marshal Ayub Khan raised the slogan of “one penny two tanks”. It means that Rs 1 million could be generated through a donation of one penny by a citizen at that time. “The same situation is arising nowadays and it is our national duty to strengthen the national economy,” he concluded.
