KARACHI: President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Muhammad Idrees while criticising the FBR's decision to revoke the clause that made it mandatory to warn defaulters 24 hours before freezing their bank accounts, said that this would open up a floodgate of corruption as it would provide yet another tool to the FBR officials to harass the business community.
"The business community of Karachi has rejected FBR's decision with a fervent appeal to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin to refrain FBR from taking this anti-business step as it is going to prove counter-productive to all the efforts being made by the government for ease of doing business", he said.
President KCCI pointed out that at a time when business confidence had just started to revive, the FBR backtracked all the measures taken towards creating a conducive business environment. In a major blow to the business and industrial community, the FBR has withdrawn the instructions that had been issued to bar taxmen from taking money without prior intimation to the account holders.
The business and industrial community strongly condemned this move based on the fact that this notification was issued after a very detailed deliberation with the then chairman FBR Shabbar Zaidi, he added. Any interruption in flow of funds will create also distrust in foreign buyers which will ruin the integrity and reputation of Pakistani businessmen.
Idrees while referring to last meeting of KCCI's delegation with Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin in Islamabad which was also attended by Energy Minister Hammad Azhar, PM Advisor Razzak Dawood and Chairman FBR Dr Muhammad Ashfaq, stated that on one hand, the lawmakers have been assuring to fully facilitate the business community and simplifying taxation laws but on the other, those discretionary powers, which had always been widely opposed by the business community were once again being returned at the commissioner level which was beyond our understanding.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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