LAHORE: Withholding tax of 0. 3 percent on all banking transitions is violation of basic human rights and the government should withdraw it at once, besides income should be taxed not turnovers.
Lahore Tax Bar Association General Secretary Qamar Uz Zaman made this demand while talking to Customs Today.
He said that the government needs to make Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) workforce functional instead of making the organized sector like banking crippled by imposing taxes.
He added that this is very easy route to deduct tax on banking transaction and also not the right way to collect revenues. He said that the FBR should increase qualitative tax payers by sending its workforce in the field and investigating the potential tax payers.
Zaman said that the politicians should improve their skills in budget related matters and develop their capacity to question bureaucracy if the officers were making unrealistic budget. He said that the government is deducting 0. 3 percent WHT on turnover and not on income.
He added that whole sale market works on 0. 1 and 0. 2 etc percent and if the government deducts 0.3 WHT this will be dangerous for the economy.
Former LTBA president Ayesha Qazi said that following the imposition of the 0.3 percent tax the people have resorted to transact through hundi, hawala, parchi and cash.
She said that in the result of the 0. 3 percent tax banks have run short of money. They cannot pay to their accountholders as people are reluctant to deposit cash and a crisis like situation has prevailed.
‘One income is being tax twice and thrice if a housewife and son is running her or his account with his husband or father’s money. The government could use commercial electricity user of the Wapda. There are so many such ways to collect revenue,” she said, adding the 0. 3 percent tax will push the country to a very dangerous direction.
