A post-budget seminar attended by chartered accountants, financial experts and industry stakeholders organized by the Northern Regional Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) here at a local hotel in Lahore on Friday evening.
Rana Muhammad Afzal, Federal Minister for State of Finance was chief guest on this occasion. Jafar Husain, Vice President ICAP, Council members ICAP, Dr Muhammad Iqbal, Member Inland Revenue, Ashfaq Tola, Chairman Fiscal Laws Committee and Council member ICAP, Muhammad Awais, Council Member ICAP, Asim Zulfiqar Ali, Partner A F Ferguson, Asad Feroze, Chairman Northern Regional Committee ICAP and Farooq Hameed, Chairman CPD ICAP, members of Northern Regional Committee of ICAP and senior chartered accountants from industry and practice were also present.
Federal Minister for State of Finance, Rana Muhammad Afzal said that their government has presented its sixth budget. The government has realized that they should now have proposals from all stakeholders, traders, chambers, exporters etc before presenting budget. We had hundreds of meetings, he told.
It was easy to walkout after five years. It is very conscious decision to come up with sixth budget. It was even debated in house that we should do it or not. There was a shared responsibility that we should present this budget. No document is perfect. We will incorporate all those changes which required, he mentioned.
We did realized where FBR and tax collectors were creating fear and difficulties for businessmen to come up with taxes. We have taken measures to stop it. Basically idea is we should broaden the tax net. Rana Muhammad Afzal said that that this budget document is still under debate for next two weeks. We have made difficult decisions and we have been challenged. We are leaving a good reserve too.-PR