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Press Release

LCCI Seeks FBR Help over taxation issues

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday called for an early resolution of tax related issues. In a letter to FBR Chairman Muhammad Javaid Ghani, the LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah said that there are a number of taxation issues that are hitting the economy hard therefore these issues should be tackled on priority.

Mian Tariq Misbah said that the FBR has started imposing heavy fines on retailers/Chain stores on non-implementation of POS system. The Government must take the private sector into confidence before taking such punitive measures and address their apprehensions. Senior Vice President Nasir Hameed Khan, Vice President Tahir Manzoor Ch. and Executive Committee expressed their deep concern over these issues and asked the President to take up these issues with FBR for an early resolution.

He said that in the post-Covid economic scenario when the taxpayers are facing severe liquidity issues, the number of Audits should be decreased considerably. The FBR should follow the policy of only risk-based audits. He further added that the Business community is facing a lot of issues regarding the CNIC condition.  The condition of disclosing CNIC for sale to unregistered persons should be abolished in the larger interest of small businesses in the country in this crunch time.

Mian Tariq Misbah said that the Taxation system should be made simpler in such a way so that no harassment is created by the Tax Officials among the Businesses. FBR has granted special Tax exemptions to the manufacturers based in Free Zones like Federal/Provincial Administered Tribal Areas (FATA/PATA) and others. These exemptions should only be provided to the Export Oriented Industries as they affect the competitiveness of industries located in other parts of the country.  The stakeholders should also be taken into confidence in this regard.

 

While talking about the rate of duties for commercial importers and industry, he said that the rate of duties for both must be same so that any misuse of raw materials imported for Industry can be discouraged. Moreover, the Government must eliminate the Regulatory duties on those raw materials which are not manufactured locally. In this regard, the SRO culture should not be misused.

Due to the carriers, the genuine importers who are importing through legal process are facing immense difficulties. This matter needs immediate attention.

Mian Tariq Misbah said that the duties on the raw materials of pharmaceutical industry should be reduced in order to enhance its competitiveness in both local and international markets. Molded glass vials are very important raw material of pharmaceutical industry which is not being manufactured locally but still facing a high rate of Regulatory Duty. This anomaly needs to be rectified.

Mian Tariq Misbah stressed upon the FBR that the pending Sales Tax and Income Tax Refunds should be cleared immediately. To facilitate the Businesses, the self-assessment scheme should be again introduced so that the inspector’s regime can be abolished. He further added that the Withholding Tax is being deducted on different stages from the Commercial Importers. This amount is refundable but is not being paid to the Commercial Importers. He asked the FBR to clear the Refunds of the Commercial Importers at the earliest. The Commercial Importers pay their Withholding Tax at the import stage which has been converted into Minimum Tax. He requested FBR to restore Final Tax Regime for the Commercial Importers.

In order to bring down the food inflation, President LCCI suggested the duties on agriculture inputs including pesticides and agro-chemicals should be reduced. He said that the import duty on used mobiles is very high and needs to be reduced to facilitate the general public.

The Lahore Directorate of valuation should be empowered like Karachi Office to hold meetings of valuation committees since a heavy percentage of importers are from Lahore and up-country areas.

The decision of Government to direct the Businesses to print the retail price on products, falling in the third schedule should be reviewed. The Businesses in Embroidery sector registered before 2011 had to pay 1% Withholding Tax while the Businesses registered after 2011 have to pay 10% Withholding Tax and their refunds are also not issued. He demanded that this anomaly needs to be  rectified.