Sindh CM hints at legal action against tax deduction

Says FBR makes deductions when it fails to meet revenue targets

HYDERABAD: The Sindh government has decided to take up the issue of Rs6.13-billion deduction from the accounts of Sindh Excise and Taxation Department under the head of withholding tax with the centre.

“A legal battle will also be pursued,” Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah told a press conference at the Hyderabad Press Club on Wednesday.



“When the FBR [Federal Board of Revenue] fails to meet its tax collection targets, they make deductions from the accounts of provinces,” Shah, who was also in charge of Sindh’s purse strings, said. He referred to the district municipal corporations in Karachi and claimed that similar deductions from their accounts were also made in the past.

He said the province would file a case against the federal government’s move but acknowledged that the process could take a little longer.

Responding to a query, he lamented that the Council of Common Interests (CCI) - an inter-provincial body - had not been holding regular meetings. “The CCI met only four times instead of holding 12 meetings in the last three years.”

Talking about law and order situation in Karachi, the chief minister said the Rangers-led operation would be considered successful when the situation became normal enough that the police could handle matters rather than the paramilitary force.



The chief minister earlier went on a whirlwind visit of Hyderabad beginning with a three-hour tour of the city, a series of back-to-back meetings with several delegations and an address to the high court bar association.

Acknowledging the water supply and drainage problem in Hyderabad like all other districts of Sindh he assured the problem would be solved.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2016.

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