Reduced human interactions: FBR chief explains policy initiative to businesspeople

KARACHI: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman Muhammad Javed Ghani has informed the business community that “reduced human interactions is our policy towards which we are working and even we have improved the recent refunds in less period than it was earlier”, which nearly is 70 to 80 percent more than the preceding period.

While replying to various issues raised during a meeting of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), he said that he had noted the matters at large given by the members of the trade bodies and said the FBR Help Desk would be established at the FPCCI, but it required consultation with various wings of the FBR in order to open the desk for productive outcome.

FPCCI president Mian Nasser Hyatt Magoo said that it was time to have a paradigm shift in the tax structure to induce investment, promote production and grow economy. He said that the constitutional position given to the FPCCI through an act of parliament to represent the private sector of trade, industry and services had been diluted by the FBR through marginalized interaction with the apex body.

He said that hardly any response was given by the FBR to matters of members of trade bodies referred to the FBR. He further said that the revenue generating agents were being ignored by the FBR. The FPCCI president said that instead of negotiating with the institutional representatives of the FPCCI, the FBR was attending those who had had no locus standi to represent the private sector stakeholders.

He said that the FBR should not accord market practicing tax lawyers and tax consultants the opportunity to represent the FPCCI on various FBR committees.

Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo said that the FBR must return to its past position to negotiate trade, industry and business matters with the apex body.

FBR’s attention was drawn towards present leverage to groups other than the FPCCI which was against the lawful representation which the FPCCI enjoyed. It was said that the SMEs were said to be the backbone of the economy, but they were being practically ignored.

The members from different trade bodies drew the attention of the FBR towards CNIC condition on sale which was counterproductive to required sales tax collection as well as impede industrial production and sales.

The participants told the FBR chairman that still the entry of raw materials in part II of 12th schedule of Section 148 of ITO had not been facilitated, which was in the exclusive domain of the FBR to resolve.

Attention was also invited towards glaring example of not entering raw materials and sub-component imported by vendors under SRO 655 but on the contrary all the components imported by assemblers had been assigned part II of the 12th Schedule of Section 148. Tax structure on import of tea requiring rationalization was also put to the notice of FBR chairman.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021