FAISALABAD:Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) President Dr Khurram Tariq said on Friday the government’s economic team members promised with him that all efforts would be made to solve problems of the business community to revive economy and control inflation.
He was talking to the FCCI members on his return from Islamabad. He explained that in his meetings with Federal Minister for Industries and Production Murtaza Mehmood, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Pasha, Commerce Secretary Muhammad Sulah Ahmed Farooqi, Member Customs (Policy) Madam Surriya Ahmad Butt and tax officials in Islamabad, he presented various budget proposals. He was assured by the government officials that the budget suggestions would be discussed at the highest forum and viable proposals would be incorporated in the budget.
Dr Khurram Tariq said that textile was the most important segment of our economy which was not only earning precious foreign exchange but was also providing jobs to millions of workers. He lamented that despite the depreciation of Pak Rupee, textile exports were declining, which was a matter of serious concern, not only for the government but also for the private sector. He said all concerned must make collaborative efforts to steer the sector from the crisis.
He also underlined the importance of the SME sector in the economy and said that this segment had potential to revive the economy in a short span of time, provided it was facilitated and encouraged with proper incentives and policy measures. He demanded the government must immediately announce industrial and SME policies enabling these sectors to take progressive measures in near future. He demanded that SME units with less than Rs 150 million turnover might be exempted from balloting for computerised audit. He said that their audit should be completed within six months instead of a period of five years.
He opposed putting additional financial burden on the existing taxpayers and demanded expansion in the tax net. He said every year a specific target of new taxpayers should be fixed with a deadline to achieve it without any failure.
Regarding the income tax, he demanded revival of the final tax regime and said that currently banks were deducting taxes at the minimum rate. He said the industrial sector is comparatively organised and was prone to harassment by the tax officials. He said that the practice of sending them audit notices repeatedly should be stopped forthwith. He suggested that audits should be conducted once a five-year period. “It would save industrialists from undue harassment and give them time to focus on their business instead wasting their energy on such frivolous activities,” he said and added that the share of industry in GDP is 13pc while it is 51pc in taxes. He said that in such conditions, industrial growth was next to impossible and hence the tax burden on the industrial sector might be reduced proportionate to their share in the GDP.
About turnover tax, Dr Khurram Tariq said that it is 1.25pc, which should be trimmed to 0.25pc so that the businesspeople could easily face the current challenges.
He also demanded elimination of super tax and said that refund cases should be cleared positively within 72 hours in order to resolve the liquidity related issues.