LAHORE: Audit Policy 2016 of the Federal Board of Revenue has flaws that must be removed to address the genuine reservations of the business community, said LCCI Standing Committee on Finance, Taxation and Sales Tax during a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday.
LCCI Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan and Standing Committee Convener Tanvir Ahmad Sufi spoke at the meeting, which was attended by Qari Habibur Rehman Zubairi, Zeshan Khalil, Mustafa Ashraf, Muhammad Akram Malik, Sheikh Khurram Abbas, Rana Asim Bashir, Abdul Waheed and M Ihtesham.
At the meeting, several issues, including budget proposals, sales tax and income tax registration, establishment of help desk and complicated taxation system, also came under discussion.
Nasir Hameed Khan said that lack of consultation on policy matter was one of the biggest reasons of trust gap between the business community and the government. He said that the FBR could attract more tax returns through policy reforms. He said that the philosophy of considering fines and penalties as revenue measure was not logical and should be reconsidered.
Tanvir Ahmad Sufi urged the FBR to satisfy business community on the audit policy. He said that conducting audit of salaried persons, having no any other source of income, should be excluded, as tax is withheld and deposited by employers. He added that the cases of final tax regime should be excluded from audit.
He said that such incomes which are exempted from tax like foreign remittances and agricultural income should not be audited. He said that businesses whose audit had been carried out in the last three years should not be considered for audit.
The committee also decided to invite all the chief commissioners to take up important matters of the business community. They urged the FBR to establish a help desk at the LCCI for sales tax registration, income tax registration and change of particulars.
The Committee Members said that assessment mechanism should be established by the FBR. They said that local investors should be encouraged to invest in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and a well-balanced federal industrial policy should be formulated in this regard.
