Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue Haroon Akhtar Khan on Saturday asked the non-filers to file their tax returns of 2014, by February 28, 2016, and get exemption from withholding tax deduction on their banking transactions.
Addressing business community, he said the government had adopted a soft approach on withholding tax and it was a good opportunity for non-filers to declare their hidden assets, sales and turnovers and file their tax returns that would be accepted without questioning them.
Shahid Hussain Asad, Member IR Policy, and Nadeem Dar, Member Facilitation FBR, were also present on the occasion. Haroon Akhtar Khan said traders were doing legitimate business and they should come into the formal sector. He said the government was facing huge difference of Rs 1,700 billion between revenue and expenditure and it is ready to give more incentives in consultation with business community to bring non-filers into the tax net to improve tax-to-GDP ratio.
He said the government was working to develop an integrated database which would help in identifying all potential taxpayers. However, the government intends to improve tax collection by taking stakeholders on board.
He said genuine complaints against tax matters should be forwarded to the FBR through chambers and trade bodies which would be looked into for remedial measures. In his welcome address, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Muzzamil Hussain Sabri called for halting raids on business premises and stopping forced debits from bank accounts as such actions created problems for businessmen.
He suggested that one house and one office should also be regularised in the wealth tax statement. He said during pre-budget consultations, the WHT on banking transactions was not discussed and imposed unilaterally which created problems.
He stressed that the government should address concerns of traders on 0.3 percent WHT and consult with stakeholders including business community. Shakeel Munir, Senior Vice President, and M Ashfaq Hussain Chatha, Vice President ICCI, stressed on the need of timely return of sales tax refunds as billions of rupees of taxpayers refunds are stuck up with FBR creating cash flow problems for them.
