Business community assured of resolution of issues: FBR Chief meets LCCI office-bearers

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Salman Siddique is likely to announce in a day or two, the resolution of issues confronting to the business community. In a meeting held between the office-bearers of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and the FBR Chairman during his recent visit to the Lahore Chamber, a number of issues including SRO 821(I)2011.
Saturday as additional weekly off for custom department, fake sales tax invoices, smuggling, under invoicing, Afghan Transit trade, new sales tax registration, rate of turnover tax, money whitening scheme, income tax return form Annexure D and a number of other sector specific issues came under discussion.
The FBR Chairman assured of his all out support for early resolution of all the issues and said formal announcement in this regard soon would be made and most probably during his visit to Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. President LCCI Irfan Qaiser Sheikh discussed in details with FBR Chairman the issues being faced by the business community.
The talks, which continued for well over three hours, had a happy ending, as the FBR Chairman assured them that all issues being faced by the business community would be resolved and no new tax policy would be made without due consultation of Chamber and other trade bodies in general and Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry in particular.
Salman Siddique made it clear that no harassment on the part of FBR officials would be tolerated, as the very objective of the FBR is facilitation to the business community. He said that there is no doubt in it that the country is in dire need of funds but it must not be at the cost of businesses running successfully in the presence of multiple internal and external challenges.
LCCI former Presidents Mian Anjum Nisar, Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman, Sheikh Mohammad Asif, Mian Muzaffar Ali, former Senior Vice President Tahir Javaid Malik, former Vice President Aftab Ahmad Vohra, Executive Committee members Rehman Chan, Amjad Chaudhry, Raees A. Sheikh and former EC member Shahzad Azam Khan were also present during the meeting.