Businessmen demand supplementary budget

Traders across the country are holding protests against the levy of fixed sales tax in electricity bills while other business sectors have expressed concern over the imposition of new taxes through the Finance Bill 2022 including deemed rental income, capital gains tax and increase in withholding tax.

In a meeting of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) tax committee, ICCI President Muhammad Shakeel Munir called on the government to introduce a supplementary budget in consultation with trade bodies in order to address tax issues of the
business community.

Munir pointed out that the government had introduced a minimum, fixed sales tax of Rs3,000 for small traders in the monthly electricity bills even when the bill itself was less than Rs1,000. He asked the government to introduce fixed sales tax based on the consumption of electricity units to make it affordable for the
small traders.

He stressed that the government should consult with the trade bodies to address such tax anomalies and come up with a supplementary budget to rationalise high taxes.

ICCI Senior Vice President Jamshaid Akhtar Sheikh said the government was charging 5% sales tax on bills up to Rs20,000 and 7.5% on bills exceeding Rs20,000, which was more affordable for the traders. However, the minimum fixed sales tax of Rs3,000 in monthly electricity bills was unacceptable.

ICCI Tax Committee Convener Naeem Siddiqui urged the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to introduce a self-assessment scheme for the business community, which would not only address their tax issues, but would also help in enhancing tax revenue for
the country.

It was pointed out that Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL) was storing computerised payment receipts (CPRs) for just three years in its record and was issuing notices to the business community.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2022.

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