ISLAMABAD:Chief Commissioner, Regional Tax Office, Dr Nasir Khan on Wednesday assured that he wanted to work closely with the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) to address the hardships of taxpayers in order to facilitate them in tax compliance.
He said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) intended to create a conducive tax environment to enable the businesses to grow, as it would help improve the tax revenue of the country.
He said this while addressing the business community during his visit to the ICCI. Commissioner ICTO Freedoon Akram Shaik, Commissioner Special Zones Adnan Inamullah, Commissioner Withholding Tax Tajjamal Balqees, and Commissioner North Said Munaaf accompanied him.
Dr Nasir Khan said that they planned to set up facilitation camps in markets to form liaison with the ICCI and market associations, and to facilitate the business community in completing and filing tax returns.
He said that ICCI should prepare budget proposals and share them with the RTO Islamabad, and the same would be forwarded to the FBR for consideration and implementation.
“There is a need to promote tax culture to improve tax revenue of the country”, he added.
He said that RTO has launched a drive to register new taxpayers and said that ICCI and market associations should cooperate in this drive to ensure equal distribution of tax burden on all sectors.
Speaking at the occasion, ICCI President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari briefed the Chief Commissioner RTO about the tax issues of the business community and gave useful proposals for broadening the tax base. He urged the FBR to introduce incentives scheme for taxpayers in proportion to their tax contribution that would help in promoting tax culture.
He also suggested that the FBR provide POS devices at its own cost to businesses that would encourage more businesses to integrate with this system. Preference should be to bring new taxpayers into the tax system instead of putting more burden on existing taxpayers, he added.
He said that the collection of sales tax through the POS system should be adjusted in the income tax of relevant taxpayers.
He also shared proposals for introduction of a fixed tax for small traders, avoiding issuance of notices to businesses and streamlining the audit process.