The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday said that a large majority of business community paid their taxes and it was the responsibility of the Federal Board of Revenue to increase the tax net.
In a statement issued in response to the remarks by Asad Umar, a financial expert affiliated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, that most of the businessmen do not pay taxes, LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar said that the remarks are uncalled for and reflects lack of insight.
The LCCI president said that a very large number of businessmen pay taxes honestly while a small fraction either pay less tax or no tax and that too is in the knowledge of tax officials.
“The revenues shortfall is because of exemptions and SROs provided to certain sectors. The FBR must enlarge its tax base and until they do it, they must set realistic revenue targets. You cannot further tax the existing tax payers that contribute over sixty per cent to the total tax revenue despite being 25 percent of the GDP,” Farooq Iftikhar said, adding that services sector has tremendous scope and must be brought into the tax net to enhance the much-needed Tax-to-GDP ratio.
He said that all sectors of the economy must be taxed, adding that agriculture having 20.1% share in GDP is contributing only 1.2% to the national taxes. On the other hand, manufacturing sector share in GDP is 25.5% and is contributing 62.2% to the national taxes. Services sector share is 54.4% in GDP but is paying only one third of its share in the national taxes, he said.
He said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry had already pinpointed that the revenue target of Rs 2,381 billion was unrealistic because of the energy crisis which kept industrial productions low besides global recession which adversely badly impacted on exports.
“It is not fair to make generalized statements and label the entire business community as non-tax payers. Obviously black sheep are everywhere but good governance is the main area politicians must focus on,” he said.
LCCI president further stated that Federal Board of Revenue collection target of Rs. 200 billion per month must be supported by decisions to support such targets.
“But unfortunately no support was extended to the private by the government departments when it came to removal of impediments and improving governance.
It was not the energy crisis alone, but law and order and issuances of SROs are not conducive to growth in economic activity in the country.”
The LCCI President hoped that the Federal Board of Revenue would set all future targets strictly in consultation with the stakeholders to get the desired results. He also urged the politicians to avoid issuing baseless statement in larger national interests.
Most businessmen pay their taxes, claims LCCI president
