Daily Times

The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has suggested the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to abolish multiple provisions of audit under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, simplify procedure for ease of doing business, and exclude manufacturers of fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) from application of withholding tax under Section 236G and 236H on Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

The KCCI in its proposals for budget 2021-22 said that presently audit proceedings can be started u/s 177 as well as through balloting u/s 214C and likewise enquiries can also be made by the Commissioner u/s 122(5A). There is a concept of a special audit panel u/s 177(11) as well. The sub-section 7 is ambiguous and provides the commissioner and his subordinates with a tool to harass, extort and victimise any taxpayer at will, it said.

The KCCI said that revenue collection through such recovery proceedings is hardly Rs92 billion whereas the costs due to litigation, involvement of entire tax collection machinery and declining number of tax filers, is far more than the collection. It said that multiple audits under various provisions have eroded the trust of tax-payers in the FBR. RTOs and LTUs. Audit functions under various Provisions have created confusion and complexity in the tax regime. Such provisions are also prone to misuse and a source of harassment.

The chamber proposed that all audit functions should be brought under one provision of Income Tax Ordinance rather than various overlapping provisions with clear and well defined parameters. Audit Parameters should be transparent and open to taxpayers. It suggested that powers of the commissioner and subordinate officials should be curtailed to restore the trust of tax payers and encourage broadening of tax base.

The KCCI suggested that such audits should be restricted to specific queries or objections and call for relevant documents only rather than opening and reopening a comprehensive audit every time.

The KCCI in its budget proposals stated that manufacturers of electronics, sugar, cement, iron and steel products, fertilizer, motorcycles, pesticides, cigarettes, glass, textile, beverages, paint or foam, etc, collect advance tax at 0.1 percent for persons appearing on active taxpayers list (ATL) and 0.2 percent for non-ATL and 0.5 percent for ATL and 1 percent for non-ATL of gross amount of sale to distributors, dealers, wholesalers and retailers.

Most of the goods mentioned above are not fast moving consumer goods. The only FMCG is beverages on which the section 236 G & H are unjustly applied. This is tantamount to discrimination for beverage manufacturers being the only manufacturer of FMCGs manufacturer class liable to above tax.

The KCCI said that it is not practically possible for manufacturers of FMCGs to collect income tax from dealers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers and it adds to the cost of consumer products. The KCCI proposed that the section may be appropriately amended to exclude the manufacturers of FMCGs from being collecting agents under section –236 G & H of the ordinance.