Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) parliamentary leader Naveed Qamar has said that provinces should proactively and vigorously collect taxes while the burden should shift from the captive taxpayers like the salaried class.

He was speaking at the maiden public-private dialogue organised by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in partnership with Centre for International Private Enterprise.

Naveed Qamar, while speaking on the occasion, underlined a forward looking thought and not ‘accountant-thought’ for improving the tax collection system of Pakistan. He said the myth that agriculture was not taxed, needs to be debated, adding that provincial governments need to be active in collection of taxes.

Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) Deputy Executive Director Dr Vaqar Ahmed, while giving presentation on tax reforms in Pakistan, said that due to vast number of exemptions, concessions and preferential treatment allowed to select sub-sectors under agriculture, industry and services, it was difficult to collect taxes. “After the 18th constitutional amendment, general sales tax on services (GSTS) is now a provincial subject. The necessary measures required to collect the due GSTS will now depend on the political will and administrative capacity of each of the provinces,” he added.

Senator Afrasiab Khattak and Bushra Gohar from ANP also spoke on the occasion and assured their cooperation in considering the feedback from private sector representatives and incorporating in their parties’ economic agenda.