Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A legislative body of the Upper House of parliamenton on Friday urged the government to implement in letter and spirit the tax relief regimes promised during the passage of FATA, PATA and Malakand Division merger legislation/25th Constitutional Amendment.

A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs chaired by Senator Farooq H Naek reiterated the importance of facilitating the conflict-ridden region by extending tax exemptions to commercial enterprises in FATA/PATA and the Malakand Division for a minimum of five years.

During the meeting, the FBR submitted a detailed report on modalities for implementation of the tax relief regimes announced by the government. The committee recommended by majority that exemptions given to the FATA and PATA including Malakand Division prior to the passage of 25th Constitutional Amendment may be restored for a period of five years with regard to the existing /operational industries only. However, for the applicability of such exemptions to the industries to be setup or established in future, further deliberations should be made after a visit of the committee to the area and after obtaining views of all the stakeholders.

The committee recommended that the notification regarding tax exemption to FATA/PATA and Malakand Division should not be issued by the FBR till its next meeting.The meeting considered a point of public importance raised by Senator Mirza Afridi regarding utilization of zakat funds in the education and health sectors and disbursement of those funds in FATA.

Senator Naek sought a briefing over collection and distribution system of the central zakat fund. He also questioned the minister about the department where the fund was being deposited.Ministry of Finance additional secretary clarified that the subject did not fall under their ambit and that the Ministry of Religious Affairs was responsible for the fund. The Ministry of Religious Affairs was then directed to appear in the next meeting.

While discussing the issue of registration of non-custompaid vehicles in FATA/PATA and Malakand Division, Senator Mohsin Aziz stressed the need for ensuring that people in the region are made aware of it through an extensive publicity campaign. Senator Naek recommended that the deadline for registration of non-custom paid vehicles be extended for a period of two months. He stressed the need for an extensive publicity campaign so that residents of the region are made aware of the process.

The committee expressed resentment over increasing Federal Excise Duty (FED) by one percent to 16 per cent. FBR’s Member IR Policy Dr Iqbal clarified that concessions to the people of FATA/PATA and Malakand Division were still in place as the tax being charged there was 16 per cent as compared to 21 per cent proposed by the Senate.

Senator Mohsin Aziz and Senator Anwarul Haq Kakar were in favour of concessions to industries and commercial enterprises in the area.

However, it was suggested that the incentives be rationalized by categorizing commercial and industrial enterprises. Senator Aziz, asserted the need of negative and positive list to ensure maximum concessions. Senator Haq suggested that a subcommittee be formed to oversee such issues. Dr Iqbal suggested that before giving verdict on the issue, a visit to the areas in question was important to get an idea of the ground realities.

Senator MianAteeq Sheikh, Senator Mohsin Aziz, Senator Dilawar Khan, Senator Khanzada Khan, Senator Anwarul Haq Kakar and senior officers from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Law and Justice attended the meeting. Senator Fida Muhammad was specially invited for his input regarding issues that came under discussion with regards to the people of FATA/PATA and the Malakand Division.

Published in Daily Times, June 30^th 2018.