Islamabad, APR 16 /DNA/ – Nasir Khan, Chief Commissioner, Corporate Tax Office (CTO), Islamabad said that he would work with the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) on short and long-term goals to address the hardships of taxpayers and streamline the procedures that were creating hurdles in enhancing the tax base in the region. He said this in a meeting with Muhammad Shakeel Munir, President ICCI during his visit to Chamber House. Naeem Siddiqui, Convener, ICCI Tax Committee was also present at the occasion.

Dr. Nasir Khan said that in the short-term, ICCI should share its written budget proposals to CTO that would be presented to FBR for consideration in the upcoming budget. He said that in the long-term, CTO would try to develop a contact mechanism with ICCI to address the hardships of taxpayers related to income tax, sales tax and federal excise duty. He said that ICCI should nominate a focal person to work with the CTO for highlighting issues and resolving the key grievances of taxpayers.

Speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Shakeel Munir, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry appreciated the initiative of CTO to approach ICCI for budget proposals and said that Chamber would soon share its written proposals with CTO that should be accommodated in final budget. He said that with our efforts, FBR had introduced a fixed tax @ Rs.1.25/unit of electricity on the marble industry and everyone was willingly paying this tax. However, imposition of 17 percent sales tax on the marble sector was discouraging productivity and exports of this sector and emphasized that FBR should re-introduce the fixed tax regime for the marble sector. He stressed that FBR should focus on reducing high tax rates in the upcoming budget that would help in broadening the tax base and improving the overall tax revenue. He said that the 17 percent sales tax on the raw material of the pharmaceutical industry should also be revised as it has created additional problems for this industry. He said that taxes and duties on the import of industrial machinery and technology should be reduced to facilitate the upgradation of local industry and production of value added products to boost exports.

Naeem Siddiqui, Convener, ICCI Tax Committee also highlighted the various issues of taxpayers including audit notices and stressed that FBR should avoid taking tax measures that create unnecessary harassment in the taxpayers and discourage promotion of voluntary tax compliance.