LAHORE: Pharmaceutical distributors have demanded of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to rationalize Withholding Tax on Pharma distributors as their business involves high turnover with very little profit margin.
A 12-member delegation of pharmaceutical distributors comprising its President Aslam Zaidi, Senior Vice President Dr Rahat and led by LCCI Executive Committee Member Khawaja Shahzeb Akram called on LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar and shared the challenges being faced by the pharmaceutical distributors.
They informed the LCCI President that it was unjust to deduct withholding tax from those who were already in the tax net. Due to withholding tax deductions a large amount of working capital remains out of circulation.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry had forwarded its budget proposals to the Federal Board of Revenue wherein it had been proposed that taxes should be rationalized and tax procedures should be simplified. He said that if the proposal was accepted, it would not only widen the tax net but would also give considerable boost to revenue generation.
In the budget 2012-13, the federal government introduced one percent withholding tax to be collected by manufacturers on sales to distributors and wholesalers. However, on the protest of the business community mainly from distributors of pharmaceuticals, the government slashed the levy to half in the Finance Act, 2012.
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