LCCI calls for unblocking 4,000 companies

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has protested against the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) move to block over 4,000 companies and urged FBR Chairman Sohail Ahmed to unblock them immediately.

The LCCI called the step arbitrary and said the companies had been left in the lurch as they could neither import nor export.

The companies claimed that they attempted to contact the Regional Tax Office (RTO) in Lahore after entering data to e-file their monthly sales tax returns and claim input for purchases, but the RTO expressed helplessness, saying the tax office in Karachi is responsible.

LCCI office-bearers said that they were unable to understand that how the RTO Karachi could initiate action against the taxpayers registered in Lahore. The Federal Board of Revenue only had the right to block those firms against whom cases were pending or which were allegedly involved in tax fraud, they said.

Meanwhile, the FBR has launched a campaign of e-intimation, a new system whereby taxpayers will be informed about discrepancies found in declarations and non-filing of tax returns and statements electronically. According to the FBR, the e-intimation drive will lead to voluntary compliance.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2010.