Daily Times

1The industrial and trading community of the country expressed dismay over the government’s decision of imposing new taxes to the tune of Rs 500 billion in the upcoming annual budget document.

This step would increase the industrial cost of manufacturing, trading cost and dent the common man as well as economy badly, they opined.

Representatives of the textile-garments, leather, surgical, marble, sports and other export-oriented products in their statements said that instead of broadening the tax net and finding new commercial entrants in business, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was advising the finance managers of the government on wrong lines. They said the industries as well as masses are already braving the burden of undue taxes and such an additional tax burden would ruin their economy.

All Pakistan Marble Mining Processing Industry and Exporters Association Chairman Sanaullah Khan said FBR should devise a mechanism to raise the tax collections and ensure entry of new taxpayers in the net. He said the government should not scotch the autonomous status of FBR and get the entity free from all pressures in order to work on better lines. “Revenue collection growth can be increased by 40 to 100 percent if FBR would work without any pressure,” he added.

Karachi Cotton Association senior member Ghulam Rabbani said this step of increasing tax burden would bring tendency of tax evasion besides increasing corruption in the concerned departments. “FBR should expedite their efforts in finding tax evaders, which
were thousands in number,” he added.

Rabbani said the government should not overburden the people and it should rather initiate reforms in FBR to provide financial relief to the business people as well as common man. He said broadening of the tax-net, overcoming tax evasion and curbing corruption in the country is the only solution to low-rate taxation, which would be an economic relief to all.

According to World Bank, an industrialist in the country having businesses in all four provinces is forced to pay an excessive amount of tax, which is 95 times more. A businessman in Singapore has to pay his tax six times in a year, while a Malaysian businessman pays his tax 14 times per annum.

All Pakistan Business Forum President Ibrahim Qureshi said the masses would not ready to accept this additional tax burden, while the decision would intensify the economic challenges being faced by the business community.

“At present, only around one million people are filing their annual tax returns in the country, while earlier in the 1990s, this figure had gone up to 1.6 million. This trend indicates increasing mistrust among the taxpayers, which leads to more tax evasion. The 35,000 taxpayers that pay tax of more than half a million rupees each are being focused, while the millions of tax evaders are not being identified or penalised. The honest taxpayers are targeted through audits, notices and raids, which was creating negative impression of these law-abiding enterprises, traders and professionals,” he added.