ISLAMABAD, AUG 9 /DNA/ – The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has called upon the FBR to focus on promoting the self-assessment scheme in order to increase the tax base and tax collection of the country instead of installing the POS devices in business premises as resorting to POS has the potential to create unnecessary harassment and distrust in the business community instead of improving the tax revenue.
Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that the business community had hailed the restoration of the self-assessment scheme in the last budget as they are feeling more confident in paying taxes on self-assessment basis. He said that in the prevailing circumstances when the business community is still struggling to combat the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on self-assessment scheme would be helpful in improving the tax revenue collection of the country.
ICCI President said FBR should take traders and all market associations fully on board before setting up Point of Sale (POS) devices in the business premises. He further said that traders have fully cooperated with the government in the corona vaccination drive and they should be engaged in talks for POS installation instead of sending FBR’s monitoring teams to monitor their sale at business premises because it would not send a positive signal to the trading community. He said that previously the FBR was providing the POS devices for installation at business premises and the same arrangement should be continued instead of asking traders to arrange POS devices at their own cost.
Fatma Azim Senior Vice President and Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI said that the trading community was playing an important role in boosting the trade activities in the country and it should be treated with respect and regard. They said that the government should make all possible efforts to avoid taking measures that have the potential to create harassment in the business community.
They urged that FBR should withdraw all monitoring teams from business premises and increase the use of technology to minimize the interface between the taxpayers and the tax collectors that would give more confidence to the business community. They further emphasized that the government should focus on ease of doing business in order to ensure fast recovery of the economy and avoid taking measures that would create problems for the business community.=DNA
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