Govt appeares to be bowing to pressure from traders once again

Considers withdrawing the condition of filing wealth statement.

ISLAMABAD: The PML-N’s federal government seemed to be compromising on documentation of economy, as on Friday it considered withdrawing the condition of filing wealth statement in an attempt to please the traders’ community – its traditional voters.

A meeting was held here at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) headquarters with the representatives of traders, mainly hailing from Punjab and some from Peshawar, according to sources. The traders’ delegation was led by PML-N’s Member of National Assembly from Lahore, Pervaiz Malik.

One of the main demands of the traders was to withdraw the condition of filing wealth statement – a form that carries details of all moveable and immovable assets and is also a base for calculating the income support levy that the government imposed in the budget this year.

It was the second time that the PML-N government was bowing to pressure from its voters. Earlier, it retreated from a major tax policy introduced to document the entire supply chain on the demand of the country’s industrialists.

In June, the government brought an amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance and made it binding for individuals and Association of Persons to file wealth statement along with income tax returns. Initial deadline for filing the statement and the return was September 30, which has been extended twice. The fresh deadline is November 30.

Furthermore, the government levied 0.5% income support levy on the value of tangible and intangible movable assets, mentioned in the wealth statement. It estimates to collect Rs15 billion on this account in the current financial year. However, the levy cannot be assessed without the wealth statement, according to FBR officials.

“I met with the FBR chairman on the directive of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and with the consent of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar,” said Pervaiz Malik while talking to The Express Tribune.

He said the traders sought withdrawal of the requirement of filing the wealth statement.

Malik said FBR Chairman Tariq Bajwa assured them that the revenue board would remove the irritants and the Punjab chief minister had constituted a committee, headed by him, to address the issues of traders.

Sources said the chief minister had also called the FBR chairman in Lahore earlier this week and asked him to sit with the traders and address their woes.

To a question about mixing political and pure economic issues, Malik said the government believed in widening the tax base and economic growth.

It was the second time that Shahbaz sought major tax concessions for the traders. Earlier, he had pleaded the case of agriculturalists, seeking relief in electricity tariffs for tube wells.

Bajwa was not available for comments. However, according to a senior FBR official, the FBR only listened to the demands of traders and would place them before the finance minister when he returned from a foreign visit. It would need major changes in law, he said.

The traders also pressed for taking back the decision on increasing penalties on late filing of returns and statements, sources said.

The government has increased the penalty on failure to furnish the statement under Sections 115, 165 and 165-A to Rs2,500 per day subject to a minimum penalty of Rs50,000.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2013.

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