The government must expedite the process of rationalising tax rates as business community has many expectations from the upcoming federal budget.
These views were expressed by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) president. He said the industrial sector in Pakistan was paying heavy rates of taxes in comparison to its counterparts in the region, so the government needed to look beyond revenue generation and should ensure fairness of tax regime, he added.
He was of the view that a significant percentage of the economy remained undocumented and operated outside the net. Proper documentation of all segments of the economy was essential if the government intended to broaden the tax base and reduce burden of already taxed people, he maintained. The ICCI president said the business community in the country was working under the most challenging environment and confronted several issues like regulatory burden, energy shortage and high cost of doing business. Therefore, the government should provide relief to the industrial sector and business community of the country by rationalising the tax rates, he added.
He underlined the need of drastic and innovative steps to bring sectors of the economy into the tax net, which were currently not being taxed.
The ICCI president also urged the government to bring down the rates of turnover tax in the upcoming federal budget. He said that it was the need of the hour that the upcoming budget should be prepared with careful consideration of proposals from the chambers and private business entities as the national budget was the most important policy document that should be rightly devised.
He further urged the government to extend full support to the business community and take it as a partner in the national development as both should work together for the betterment of the common man and the greater welfare of the society.
