Skip to main content

FBR chief allays traders’ concerns over possible raids

ISLAMABAD: Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Shabbar Zaidi has assured the business community that raids would not be carried out on places of registered taxpayers for collection of income tax or sales tax.

He, however, called upon businessmen and traders to help the authorities solve the problems of smuggling and tax evasion.

Talking to a delegation of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) here on Friday, the FBR chief said he would ask the Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation of Inland Revenue (IR) to largely refrain from mounting raids.

Mr Zaidi agreed to a proposal for granting the power of imposing penalties to an official not below the rank of an FBR member, who would evaluate the complaints/charges against an individual and then give permission for a raid, if really needed.

Says that turnover tax will be reduced for small businesses on case-to-case basis and its threshold will be enhanced

The sensitive issue came under discussion when some members of the RCCI delegation expressed strong reservations over the raids being conducted by the FBR officials along with security personnel and termed them “totally unjustified”.

The FBR chairman told the delegation that turnover tax would be reduced for small traders and businessmen on a case-to-case basis and its threshold would be enhanced. “Haj companies making payments to Saudi Arabia under Section 152 will be evaluated and exempted from withholding tax,” he added.

“The threshold for withholding agents registered with sales tax will be enhanced; the importers’ registration and the web-based registration package WEBOC will be made easier,” Mr Zaidi said.

RCCI president Saboor Malik said to the FBR chief: “The economy is passing through difficult times and we are also suffering, but we require better partnership with the FBR as joint efforts are essential for the economy’s revival.”

He said that raids and closure of business centres gave a negative message, besides adversely affecting the reputation and goodwill of the businesses concerned.

The RCCI delegation included Sohail Altaf, Jalil Ahmed Malik, Asad Mashhadi, Raja Amer Iqbal and Shahid Saleem. FBR’s member for tax policy Hamid Attiq also attended the meeting.

“The situation [during a raid] gives the impression that an activist of a banned or terrorist outfit has been arrested,” said Mr Malik while explaining the manner in which the FBR officials carry out the raids on business centres.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2019



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/33xpLwk
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump says he urged team to ‘slow’ COVID-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered. The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of COVID-19 in several states can be explained by greater numbers of diagnostic tests. At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a “double-edged sword.” The United States — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita. “Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases,” Trump argued. “So I said to my people ‘slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.” It was not clear from Trump’s tone if he was playing to the crowd, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more

IT ministry forms panel to review social media rules

ISLAMABAD: While uproar against the new rules to regulate social media continues from various segments of society, including parliamentarians, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and civil society, the information technology ministry on Friday formed a committee to review the rules. The federal cabinet approved the rules on Feb 11, but later after opposition from various quarters, including companies that manage different social media platforms, the prime minister announced that a fresh consultation process would be launched over the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. The committee formed by the IT ministry is headed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa while its members are Eazaz Aslam Dar, additional secretary of IT; Tania Aidrus, member of the Strategic Reforms Imple­mentation Unit, Prime Minister Office; and Dr Arslan Khalid, focal person on digital media at the PM Office. Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

IS confirms Baghdadi’s death, vows revenge

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.—AP BEIRUT: The Islamic State militant group confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a statement on Thursday and named his replacement as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi. “We mourn you ... commander of the faithful,” said Abu Hamza al-Quraishi — presented as the group’s new spokesman — in an audio statement. Baghdadi, who led IS since 2014 and was the world’s most wanted man, was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria’s province of Idlib on Sunday. The group also confirmed the killing in another raid the following day of the group’s previous spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir. The statement said the group’s legislative and consultative body convened after the 48-year-old Iraqi-born jihadist chief’s death. “The Islamic State shura council convened immediately after confirming the martyrdom of Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the elders of the holy warriors agreed” on a replacement, said the seven-minute message. Little is known abou...
Post a Comment
Read more