- AKTI head flays govt for imposing 5 percent sales tax on retailers
- FPCCI president welcomes measures like formation of tax reform commission
The big businessmen and industrialists are happy with the new budget, but small traders have decried the budget as a “worthless adjustment of figures”.
All Karachi Tajir Ittehad (AKTI) Chairman Atiq Mir rejected the new fiscal plan, saying that the small traders would agitate if the government did not address their reservations going forward. Mir, whose AKTI represents at least 500 retail markets of Karachi, criticised the government for imposing five percent sales tax on retailers and over-incentivising the already privileged industrialists.
“This budget is a worthless adjustment of figures which would increase the hardships of small traders,” Mir told Pakistan Today. For bringing retailers into the tax net the government should have announced special packages and incentives for them, he added.
“Small traders would protest if the government did not address our grievances in the forthcoming mini budget,” the AKTI chief warned.
On the other hand, Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) President Zakariya Usman said at a glance the proposed fiscal plan sounded “good”.
“Almost all the proposals we had forwarded seem to have been incorporated in the budget,” said Usman who was flanked by FPCCI’s office-bearers like Shaukat Ahmed, Khurram Saeed, Ayub Mehr, Zubair Tufail and others.
He said the federation, however, would analyse the new fiscal document on Wednesday (today) and hold a press briefing on Thursday to express its final views.
The FPCCI president welcomed measures like establishment of a tax reform commission, keeping the general sales tax in a single digit, the abolition of SROs and incentives for the sectors producing traditional items saying that “everything is good at a glance”.
He said a single digit GST whereas would directly benefit the masses the constitution of a commission instead of committee would lead to a fast-paced decision making process in the country about the tax-related issues. The trade incentives announced, he said, would end smuggling in the country the ailing economy of which has long been suffering at the hands of “influential” people which had introduced self-serving SROs in the past.
“They have abolished almost 30 percent of the SROs,” Usman added.
Haji Ghani Usman, a former board member at Karachi Stocks Exchange, said the budget overall was “balanced”. The stocks broker was appreciative of the proposed change in slabs of CGT which was to be collected at 17.5 percent from July 2014.
Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Abdullah Zaki termed the budget as business-friendly in which, he said, almost 60 percent of the Chamber’s proposals were approved.
“We had proposed the Exim Bank’s establishment, tax reforms, cutting export refinancing (from 9 to 7.5 percent), slashing import tariffs and customs duties which were approved,” he said.
The businessman, however, said the budget was not poor-friendly for it was lacking any reduction in the sales tax.
Pakistan Tanners Association Chairman Fawad Jawed termed the budget as balanced and full of incentives for the business communities. He welcomed steps like the establishment of Exim Bank and reducing the export refinance rate.
Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association Chairman Arshad Aziz was also all praise for the incentives given to the exporters in the new budget wherein a four percent duty drawback was offered to the garments sector.