Capital traders oppose high taxes on services

ICCI argues K-P and Sindh have reduced these taxes

ISLAMABAD:

The business community of the federal capital on Tuesday opposed the imposition of high taxes on services during the pandemic where at least two provinces have cut them.

In a meeting at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), traders strongly protested the imposition of 16 per cent General Sales Tax (GST) by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on services provided by underwriters, indenters, commission agents and auctioneers in the federal capital.

ICCI President Sardar Yasir Khan said that contrary to the tax imposed by the FBR in the federal capital, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) had reduced the GST on these services from 16 per cent to three and two per cent respectively.

He the high GST, he argued, had made service-oriented businesses in the federal capital uncompetitive as they already have to pay a professional tax and six per cent withholding tax.

The ICCI chief urged the Advisor on Finance and Revenue and the FBR chairman to revise the sales tax on services in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to save these businesses from unnecessary problems.

Meanwhile, ICCI Senior Vice President Fatma Azim and Vice President Abdul Rehman Khan said that the chamber has filed another petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the 300 per cent hike in property taxes by the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to protect the citizens and businesses of the city.

They further said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced in February 2020 that the government will abolish around 104 types of trade licences, but instead of complying with the PM’s announcement, the IMC has made a manifold increase in trade licence fees.

They urged the civic authorities to rationalise trade fees to save traders from unnecessary problems.

Former ICCI office bearers Ejaz Abbasi and Khalid Chaudhry and others said that a former DMA of CDI in the past had reached a verbal agreement with ICCI to charge signboard tax at a rate of Rs60 per square foot, which should be implemented in letter and spirit.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2020.